Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/20pdf/20-507_h315.pdf
Page Number: 5.0

Cite as:  592 U. S. ____ (2021) 

5 

Per Curiam 

For  example,  trial  counsel  could  have  claimed  that  Jones 
killed  Jenkins  to  cover  up  his  affair.    Counsel  might  also 
have  highlighted  that  Jones  was  planning  to  rent  a  room 
from Jenkins on the day of the crime.  Id., at 938–939.  Or 
counsel might have better stressed potential flaws in Jones’ 
version  of  events,  such  as  discrepancies  about  the  exact 
time he reported the murder.  Id., at 940.  The majority fur-
ther surmised that Hines had “no clear motive” for the mur-
der,  and  it  noted  the  absence  of  “DNA  or  fingerprint  evi-
dence.”  Id., at 939. 
  Missing from this analysis, however, was the voluminous 
evidence of Hines’ guilt.  Among many other things, the ma-
jority disregarded Hines’ flight in a bloodstained shirt, his 
theft of the vehicle and money, and his ever-changing sto-
ries about stabbing and robbing various people on the day 
of the crime.  See generally id., at 937–942. 
  Judge  Kethledge  dissented.    In  his  view,  the  majority 
“ ‘nowhere g[ave] deference to the state courts, nowhere ex-
plain[ed] why their application of Strickland was unreason-
able rather than merely (in the majority’s view) incorrect, 
and nowhere explain[ed] why fairminded jurists could view 
[Hines’] claim only the same way the majority d[id].’ ”  Id., 
at 942.  Judge Kethledge then reviewed all of the evidence 
ignored  by  the  majority.    He  found  “zero  reason  to  think 
that,  after  investigation,  counsel  could  have  presented 
Jones  as  the  ‘real  killer.’ ”    Id.,  at  944.    And  he  explained 
that impeaching Jones “would have been a waste of time” 
because Jones had “offered no testimony regarding Hine[s’ ] 
guilt.”  Ibid. 

II 
  Hines’ legal theory is straightforward: A competent attor-
ney would have presented the full truth about Jones’ affair 
and  blamed  him  for  the  crime.    According  to  Hines,  this 
strategy  would  have  deflected  so  much  suspicion—or  at