United States Eleventh Circuit

Conviction for capital murder and death sentence are affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded where: 1) trial counsel-s investigation of mitigating evidence in defendant's background fell short of prevailing professional norms; 2) court's emphasis on the absence of a "causal relationship" between defendant's mitigating evidence and the statutory aggravator reflected an unreasonable application of Strickland; 3) defendant satisfied the exhaustion requirement as to his Batson step three claim; and 4) district court's denial of an evidentiary hearing was not an abuse of discretion.

Appellate Information

• Decided 09/17/2008
• Published 09/17/2008

Judges

Court

• United States Eleventh Circuit

Counsel