Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/boundvolumes/558bv.pdf
Page Number: 174.0

Cite as: 558 U. S. 4 (2009) 

13 

Alito, J., concurring 

that  Van  Hook  committed  the  murder  alone  in  the  course 
of  an  aggravated  robbery.  See  Ohio  Rev.  Code  Ann. 
§ 2929.04(A)(7)  (Lexis  2006).  Van  Hook’s  confession  made 
clear,  and  he  never  subsequently  denied,  both  that  he  was 
the  sole  perpetrator  of  the  crime  and  that  “[h]is  intention 
from beginning to end was to rob [Self] at some point in their 
evening’s activities.”  App. to Pet. for Cert. 295a; see id., at 
276a–278a,  294a.  Nor  did  he  arrive  at  that  intention  on  a 
whim: Van Hook had previously pursued the same strategy— 
of  luring  homosexual  men  into  secluded  settings  to  rob 
them—many times since his teenage years, and he employed 
it  again  even  after  Self ’s  murder  in  the  weeks  before  his 
arrest.  See  id.,  at  279a,  295a,  374a.  Although  Van  Hook 
apparently  deviated  from  his  original  plan  once  the  offense 
was underway—going beyond stealing Self ’s goods to killing 
him  and  disﬁguring  the  dead  body—that  hardly  helped  his 
cause.  The  Sixth  Circuit,  which  focused  on  the  number  of 
aggravating factors instead of their weight, see 560 F. 3d, at 
530;  cf.  Ohio  Rev.  Code  Ann.  § 2929.04(B),  gave  all  this  evi­
dence  short  shrift,  leading  it  to  overstate  further  the  effect 
additional mitigating evidence might have had. 

*

*

* 

The petition for certiorari and the motion for leave to pro­
ceed  in  forma  pauperis  are  granted.  The  judgment  of  the 
Court  of  Appeals  is  reversed,  and  the  case  is  remanded  for 
further proceedings consistent with this opinion. 

It is so ordered. 

Justice Alito, concurring. 
I  join  the  Court’s  per  curiam  opinion  but  emphasize  my 
understanding  that  the  opinion  in  no  way  suggests  that  the 
American  Bar  Association’s  Guidelines  for  the  Appointment 
and Performance of Defense Counsel in Death Penalty Cases 
(rev. ed. 2003) (2003 Guidelines or ABA Guidelines) have spe­