United States Ninth Circuit

District court's grant of defendant's request for habeas relief on claim of ineffective assistance of counsel at the penalty phase of his capital murder trial is affirmed where: 1) the record shows that there was indeed substantial mitigating evidence that could have been presented with little or no risk of further aggravating the negative information the jury already knew of defendant; and 2) given the counsel's paltry penalty phase presentation and the jury's apparent difficulty in reaching the verdict, the district court correctly found that the counsel's failures prejudiced defendant before the jury.

Appellate Information

• Decided 10/29/2012
• Published 10/29/2012

Judges

• Fisher

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel