Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Elements

Pursuant to Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 80 L. Ed. 2d 674, 104 S. Ct. 2052 (1984), to prevail on a claim of ineffective counsel, a defendant must show: (1) that counsel's performance was deficient, i.e., it fell below an objective standard of reasonableness, and (2) that the deficient assistance prejudiced the defense, i.e., but for counsel's errors, the result of trial would probably have been different. Dawson v. State, 108 Nev. 112, 115, 825 P.2d 593, 595 (1992) (citing Strickland, 466 U.S. at 687-88, 694). A court may consider the two test elements in any order and need not consider both if the defendant makes an insufficient showing on either one. Kirksey v. State, 112 Nev. 980, 987, 923 P.2d 1102, 1107 (1996) (citing Strickland, 466 U.S. at 697). When an ineffective assistance of counsel claim is based upon counsel's failure to file a motion to suppress a confession or a motion to suppress evidence allegedly obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment, "the prejudice prong must be established by a showing that the claim was meritorious and that there was a reasonable likelihood that the exclusion of the evidence would have changed the result of a trial." Kirksey, 112 Nev. at 990, 923 P.2d at 1109.