State Of Washington v. Michael Peter Zielinski, 73517-9

Michael Zielinski was convicted of three counts of first-degree child rape (DV) and one count of second-degree child rape (DV) based primarily on the testimony of his daughter, A.G.
A.G. described repeated sexual assaults by Zielinski from about kindergarten through third grade, including specific details and efforts to hide the abuse.
A.G. told her mother in 2012 she “didn't want anything to do with” her old bed that had been in storage; A.G. later testified she had told her mother the same.
During trial, the prosecutor elicited Griffith’s testimony about the phone conversation; defense counsel did not initially object to a portion of the hearsay but later objected and the court struck part of it.
Zielinski appealed, arguing ineffective assistance of counsel based on his attorney’s failure to object to the hearsay statement; the Court of Appeals affirmed the convictions and declined to assess appellate costs because Zielinski was indigent.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether counsel was ineffective for failing to object to hearsay in Griffith’s testimony	Zielinski: counsel’s failure to object fell below objective standard and prejudiced the verdict because the hearsay corroborated A.G.	State: even if counsel’s failure was deficient, there is no reasonable probability the outcome would differ because A.G.’s testimony was independently strong and central evidence	Court: Even assuming deficient performance, no prejudice shown; ineffective assistance claim fails
Whether appellate costs should be imposed	Zielinski: should not be taxed costs because he is indigent	State: did not request costs	Court: Trial court found indigent; no change shown — costs not appropriate

State v. White, 80 Wn. App. 406 (review standard for ineffective assistance)
State v. Humphries, 181 Wn.2d 708 (burden and Strickland standard for ineffective assistance)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (two-prong ineffective assistance test)
State v. Hendrickson, 129 Wn.2d 61 (attorney tactics may be reasonable strategy)
State v. Sinclair, 192 Wn. App. 380 (presumption and deference re: trial court indigency findings)