Keller

In December 1998, while in jail after being arraigned for crimes he allegedly committed against his wife in November 1998, defendant Werner Keller solicited a supposed hit man to attack her and to dissuade her from testifying against him. Defendant did not know that he was speaking to an undercover police detective and that his conversations with the "hit man" were being tape-recorded. After defendant was led to believe the hit man had killed his wife, and defendant paid for the dirty work, he was charged with solicitation for his December 1998 conduct.

A jury found defendant guilty of two counts of violating Penal Code section 653f, subdivision (a) [1] for soliciting the undercover officer to (1) commit assault with a deadly weapon or instrument or by force likely to produce great bodily injury against his wife, Rebecca Keller (count one); and (2) dissuade Rebecca from attending or testifying as a witness in a legal proceeding by the use of force or a threat of force (count two). The jury acquitted defendant of falsely imprisoning Rebecca (count three). (§ 236.) The court sentenced defendant to three years in prison.

Defendant contends he received ineffective…