The state Supreme Court is deciding whether lower courts were too facile in denying without an evidentiary hearing a criminal convict’s claim that his defense lawyer failed to call alibi witnesses who came forward to testify.

Oscar Porter, now serving a 40-year prison sentence, has twice been turned down by appellate courts on his postconviction-relief claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. The courts so far have treated the defense lawyer’s action as a strategic decision.