Jeffrey L. Keith v. Commonwealth of PA, 484 F. App'x 694

Keith assaulted Smith in August 2002 and was charged with terroristic threats, unlawful restraint, indecent assault, burglary, and two counts of simple assault.
Keith pled nolo contendere on December 27, 2002 to one count of simple assault, one count of terroristic threats, and one count of criminal trespass, which was reduced from burglary.
Keith was sentenced in March 2003 to consecutive terms for the plea-based counts; he contemplated withdrawing his plea, and the court explained withdrawal procedures.
Keith appealed the judgment of sentence, which was denied, and he then pursued PCRA relief alleging ineffective assistance for not moving to withdraw the plea before sentencing.
PCRA hearings in 2005 and 2006 featured conflicting testimony: Keith claimed counsel advised him to wait; counsel testified she advised him of consequences and that he decided to proceed with sentencing.
Lower courts credited counsel over Keith regarding lack of instruction to withdraw; the Pennsylvania Supreme Court denied further review; Keith’s federal petition followed exhaustion and COA was granted on the ineffective-assistance issue.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the PCRA court unreasonably credited trial counsel's testimony	Keith	Keith's credibility claim was reasonable	PCRA court's credibility finding was reasonable
Whether trial counsel’s performance was deficient under Strickland	Keith	No deficiency shown	No deficient performance found; no need to reach prejudice
Whether Lafler v. Cooper governs this case	Keith	Distinguishable	Lafler inapplicable; does not aid Keith

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (U.S. 1984) (establishes two-prong test for ineffective assistance)
Rice v. Collins, 546 U.S. 333 (U.S. 2006) (preserves credibility determinations on habeas review)
Lafler v. Cooper, 569 U.S. 127 (U.S. 2012) (distinguishable as different procedural posture; not controlling here)