Jwan L. Hardin v. Indiana

QUESTIONS PRSENTED

1. Is McCarthy v. United States, 394 U.S. 459 (1969) still good law? That is, are trial courts still required to examine the relation between the law and the act(s) a defendant admits to protect a defendant who is in the position of pleading voluntarily with an understanding of the nature of the charge but without realizing that his conduct does not actually fall within the charge, particularly with regard to juveniles?

2. Whether defense counsel renders ineffective assistance of counsel in violation of the Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution by telling a juvenile client who does not want to plead guilty that he cannot raise self-defense despite evidence and case law to the contrary, and by not telling the client about a) the option to pursue conviction of a lessor offense, also supported by evidence and case law, and b) a statutory alternative sentence for juveniles, in order to attain the lawyer’s objective of securing the minimum sentence for murder? Page 2 of 26