Allen

MEMORANDUM **

Darryl Allen appeals the district court’s denial of his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 habeas petition, which claimed he had been denied the effective assistance of counsel during his trial for the robbery of a Goodwill store. We affirm.

It is well established that to succeed on a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, the petitioner must show both that his counsel’s performance was constitutionally deficient, and that his counsel’s deficient performance prejudiced him in such a manner as to deprive him of a fair trial. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687 , 104 S.Ct. 2052 , 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). The proper standard for counsel’s performance is that of reasonableness. Id. Judicial scrutiny of counsel’s performance must be highly deferential, and the petitioner must overcome the presumption that the challenged action might be considered a reasonable trial strategy. Id. at 689 , 104 S.Ct. 2052 .

The petitioner challenges his counsel’s assistance in two respects. First, he asserts that counsel was ineffective because he failed to object to the prosecutor’s reference to him and a known accomplice as being brothers when the evidence did not support such a statement.…