Jarrad L. Mastin v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.), 18A04-1605-PC-1038

In 2011 a jury convicted Jarrad L. Mastin of three counts of child molesting (one Class A, two Class B); he received consecutive sentences totaling 90 years. The convictions and sentence were affirmed on direct appeal.
Mastin filed a pro se petition for post-conviction relief alleging ineffective assistance of trial and appellate counsel; a public defender initially was appointed and later withdrew.
Trial counsel (Quirk) testified at the post-conviction hearing that he communicated plea offers to Mastin and that Mastin rejected them; the deputy prosecutor corroborated that multiple plea offers were conveyed and that a last-minute offer was discussed the morning of trial and rejected after a lengthy meeting with counsel.
Mastin testified he was not informed of the plea offers; the post-conviction court found Quirk and the prosecutor credible and rejected Mastin’s version.
The post-conviction court denied relief on both ineffective-assistance claims and also denied Mastin’s request for post-conviction hearing transcripts at public expense; the Court of Appeals affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether trial counsel was ineffective for failing to communicate plea offers	Mastin: counsel never told him about plea offers; would have considered a plea	State: counsel and prosecutor testified offers were communicated and Mastin rejected them	Court held counsel was not ineffective — post-conviction court credited counsel/prosecutor testimony
Whether appellate counsel was ineffective in arguing sentence inappropriateness	Mastin: appellate counsel inadequately presented the 7(B) sentence argument, failing to compare relevant cases	State: appellate brief not part of record; Mastin failed to prove deficient performance	Court held appellate counsel was not shown to be ineffective — petitioner failed to carry burden
Whether Mastin would have accepted plea (prejudice under Frye/Strickland)	Mastin: he would likely have taken last plea if told	State: Mastin’s testimony equivocal; record shows he repeatedly rejected offers	Court held prejudice not established; even if performance deficient, no reasonable probability he would have accepted plea
Whether petitioner was entitled to post-conviction hearing transcripts at public expense before denial	Mastin: needed transcripts to prepare findings and conclusions	State: indigent transcript entitlement under P-C R.1(9)(b) applies only for appeal after denial, not for pre-denial preparation	Court held petitioner not entitled to transcripts at public expense pre-denial

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (establishes two-prong ineffective assistance standard)
Missouri v. Frye, 132 S. Ct. 1399 (defense counsel must communicate formal plea offers; shows prejudice test when offers are lost)
Timberlake v. State, 753 N.E.2d 591 (post-conviction relief is a narrow remedy; ineffective-assistance claims appropriate there)
Bieghler v. State, 690 N.E.2d 188 (heightened deference in ineffective-assistance-of-appellate-counsel claims)
Hall v. State, 849 N.E.2d 466 (standard on appellate review of post-conviction factual findings; no reweighing of evidence)