PEOPLE v. MONTOYA
Defendant in sexual abuse trial was not denied effective assistance of counsel because his attorney failed to formally investigate child victim's competency to testify by way of a pretrial "taint hearing," where victim was not very young eight at the time of the alleged abuse--and was articulate concerning her relationship with defendant, and there was no evidence that she was questioned and misled by professionals or that she was pressured by professionals to misstate or misperceive the truth about what occurred. Defendant was not prejudiced by his counsel's failure to pursue taint hearing where thorough cross-examination of victim and other witnesses did not produce any evidence that police were overly suggestive or coercive in interviewing victim, and statements that he made during a pretext phone call, which was undisputedly admissible, were highly incriminating.
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