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Stanford v. Stewart

Trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to an erroneous jury charge which instructed the jury that it could find defendant guilty of arson in a manner not charged in the indictment.

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We granted Jerome Stanford a certificate of probable cause to appeal from the denial of his petition for writ of habeas corpus. Because Stanford has demonstrated that he received ineffective assistance of counsel, both at trial and on appeal, we reverse.

A jury convicted Stanford of one count of arson in the first degree based on evidence that he intentionally set fire to the apartment residence of his girlfriend. His conviction was affirmed by the Court of Appeals. Stanford v. State, 236 Ga. App. 597 512 SE2d 708 1999. Stanford sought a writ of habeas corpus in the Superior Court of Wheeler County, claiming that trial counsel was ineffective in failing to properly preserve an objection to an incorrect jury instruction; and that appellate counsel was deficient in failing to assert trial counsel’s ineffectiveness on appeal. The habeas court denied the requested relief. We granted review and inquired as follows: Whether the habeas court committed reversible error in failing to consider petitioner’s claims of ineffective trial and appellate counsel under the standards set forth in Strickland v. Washington, 466 U. S. 668 104 SC 2052, 80 LE2d 674 1984 and Battles v. Chapman, 269 Ga. 702 506 SE2d 838 1998; and whether application of those standards mandates that the writ of habeas corpus be granted. Because we conclude that Stanford’s claims are meritorious, we reverse.

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