Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/boundvolumes/558bv.pdf
Page Number: 165

4	 

OCTOBER  TERM,  2009 

Per  Curiam 

BOBBY,  WARDEN  v.  VAN  HOOK 

on	  petition  for  writ  of  certiorari  to  the  united 
states court of appeals for the sixth circuit 

No. 09–144.  Decided November 9, 2009 

An Ohio state court sentenced respondent  Van Hook to death for murder 
in  1985.  In  2003,  a  Federal  District  Court  denied  Van  Hook’s  request 
for habeas relief.  The Sixth Circuit reversed.  Ultimately, it relied on 
American Bar Association (ABA) guidelines published in 2003, conclud­
ing that Van Hook’s lawyers were deﬁcient in investigating and present­
ing mitigating evidence at the penalty phase. 

Held:  Because  Van  Hook’s  attorneys  met  the  constitutional  minimum  of 
competence,  he  was  not  denied  effective  assistance  of  counsel.  The 
Sixth  Amendment  entitles  a  defendant  to  receive  representation  that 
does not fall “below an objective standard of reasonableness” in light of 
“prevailing  professional  norms.”  Strickland  v.  Washington,  466  U. S. 
668,  686.  Restatements  of  professional  standards  can  be  useful  as 
“guides”  to  what  reasonableness  entails,  but  only  to  the  extent  they 
describe the professional norms prevailing when the representation took 
place.  Id., at 688.  The Sixth Circuit ignored this limiting principle in 
relying  on  ABA  guidelines  announced  18  years  after  Van  Hook’s  trial. 
Judging  counsel’s  conduct  in  the  1980’s  under  2003  standards—without 
even  pausing  to  consider  whether  they  reﬂected  the  prevailing  profes­
sional practice at the time of the trial—was error.  Van Hook’s counsel 
were  not  ineffective  under  the  professional  standards  prevailing  at  the 
time of trial.  They did not start their mitigation investigation too late, 
their  investigation’s  scope  was  not  unreasonable,  and  their  decision  not 
to  seek  more  mitigating evidence  than  they  had  in  hand fell  within  the 
range of professionally reasonable judgments. 

Certiorari granted; 560 F. 3d 523, reversed and remanded. 

Per Curiam. 

The Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit granted habeas 
relief  to  Robert  Van  Hook  on  the  ground  that  he  did  not 
receive effective assistance of counsel during the sentencing 
phase of his capital trial.  Because we think it clear that Van 
Hook’s  attorneys  met  the  constitutional  minimum  of  compe­