Gaess

MEMORANDUM ***

Randall C. Gaess (“Gaess”) is a Nevada state prisoner who pled guilty to charges arising from his conduct occurring between January of 1996 and March of 1998, including engaging in sexual acts with a woman in the presence of her young daughter and masturbating in front of that daughter and her younger sister. At the preliminary hearing, the sisters testified against Gaess, who later pled guilty to: (1) Lewdness with a Child Under the Age of Fourteen (“Count I”), Nevada Revised Statute § 201.230; (2) Attempted Lewdness with a Child Under the Age of Fourteen (“Count II”), §§ 201.230 and 193.330; and (3) Indecent Exposure (“Count III”), § 201.220. He was sentenced on February 14, 2000, to four to ten years with an additional eight to twenty years in prison, and the judgment of conviction was entered on February 23, 2000.

Gaess unsuccessfully pursued state habeas corpus relief before the Nevada Supreme Court, and then sought federal habeas relief pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 alleging ineffective assistance of counsel. The federal district court denied relief by Order entered August 9, 2005. Having timely appealed, Gaess reasserts that his attorney was ineffective by…