SELYA, Circuit Judge.
This appeal requires that we address an important question, not authoritatively resolved by controlling precedent: When (if ever) does defense counsel's substandard performance in a criminal case—never a pretty sight—become so unattractive that a habeas court must forgo the customary inquiry into the harmful effects of attorney error and, instead, conclusively presume that counsel's blunders prejudiced the defendant?
The...
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