Does a criminal defendant have a constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel?

A criminal defendant has a constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel. (Strickland v. Washington (1984) 466 U.S. 668, 684-686.) To establish such a claim, a defendant must show: 1) counsel's performance fell below an objective standard of reasonableness; and 2) this resulted in prejudice to the defendant. (Id. at pp. 687-688,

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691-692.) A failure to request a jury instruction that is not supported by the evidence does not constitute ineffective assistance. (See People v. Price (1991) 1 Cal.4th 324, 386-387; see also People v. Moles (1970) 10 Cal.App.3d 611, 618 ["In view of our conclusion that the evidence does not warrant such instructions, we conclude that the [ineffective assistance of counsel] argument is untenable"].)