Ryan Lamar Beard, Jr.
v.
State of Iowa
Appellant
Ryan Lamar Beard, Jr.
Appellee
State of Iowa
Attorney for the Appellant
Josh Irwin, Assistant Appellate Defender
Attorney for the Appellee
Kyle Hanson, Assistant Attorney General
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Celene Gogerty, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Greer and Ahlers, JJ. Opinion by Greer, J. Special Concurrence by Tabor, P.J. (7 pages)
Ryan Beard appeals from the denial of his postconviction relief (PCR) application, claiming his counsel was ineffective. OPINION HOLDS: Giving weight to the PCR court’s credibility findings and finding no breach of an essential duty, we affirm the denial of Beard’s PCR application. SPECIAL CONCURRENCE ASSERTS: Like the majority, I would affirm the denial of postconviction relief, but I would do so on the prejudice prong of Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 686 (1984). Unlike the majority, I do not believe that trial counsel pursued a reasonable strategy. But Beard cannot show that but for his counsel’s omission, there was a reasonable probability that he would have received a more lenient sentence.
