Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/boundvolumes/558bv.pdf
Page Number: 191.0

30 

OCTOBER  TERM,  2009 

Per  Curiam 

PORTER  v.  McCOLLUM,  ATTORNEY  GENERAL  OF 
FLORIDA,  et al. 

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

No. 08–10537.  Decided November 30, 2009 

Petitioner  Porter  was  sentenced  to  death  for  murder.  In  postconviction 
proceedings,  both  the  trial  court  and  the  Florida  Supreme  Court  re­
served judgment on counsel’s deﬁciency at the penalty phase, but ruled 
that  Porter  had  not  been  prejudiced  by  counsel’s  failure  to  investigate 
and present mitigating evidence of Porter’s abusive childhood, his heroic 
military  service  and  associated  trauma,  his  long-term  substance  abuse, 
and his impaired mental health and mental capacity.  The Federal Dis­
trict Court subsequently granted habeas relief, concluding that counsel’s 
failure to adduce that evidence violated Porter’s Sixth Amendment right 
to  effective  assistance  of  counsel,  but  the  Eleventh  Circuit  reversed  on 
the ground that the State Supreme Court’s ruling was a reasonable ap­
plication of Strickland v.  Washington, 466 U. S. 668. 

Held:  The  performance  of  Porter’s  counsel was  deﬁcient,  and  the  Florida 
Supreme Court unreasonably applied Strickland in holding that Porter 
was  not  prejudiced  by  that  deﬁciency.  That  counsel  failed  to  conduct 
even  a  cursory  investigation  into  Porter’s  background  shows  that  his 
performance  fell  below  an  objective  standard  of  reasonableness.  See 
466  U. S.,  at  688.  And  it  was  objectively  unreasonable  for  the  state 
court  to  conclude  there  was  no  reasonable  probability  the  sentence 
would not have been different had the sentencing judge and jury heard 
the  signiﬁcant  mitigation  evidence  Porter’s  counsel  neither  uncovered 
nor presented.  See id., at 694. 

Certiorari granted in part; 552 F. 3d 1260, reversed and remanded. 

Per Curiam. 

Petitioner  George  Porter  is  a  veteran  who  was  both 
wounded  and  decorated  for  his  active  participation  in  two 
major engagements during the Korean War; his combat serv­
ice unfortunately left him a traumatized, changed man.  His 
commanding ofﬁcer’s moving description of those two battles 
was only a fraction of the mitigating evidence that his coun­