Opinion ID: 2790291
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Interviews with Others

Text: The interviews conducted by D.S. (and the few conversations J.B. himself had) with relatives and friends of Doe’s were unquestionably deficient. J.B. spoke at any length with only two people: Doe’s mother and his aunt, L.P. Had J.B. asked them more than admittedly cursory questions, he would have learned what the experts retained by habeas counsel did.16 Had he gone further 16 By and large, the evidence later discovered through more comprehensive interviews was consistent with – and far more detailed than – the history provided initially. The one discrepancy relates to the years during which Doe was under the care of his mother, versus that of his grandmother and uncle. Doe’s mother suggested that he was in her custody for more of his early childhood than was actually the case, though D.S. was also told that Doe had been removed from his mother’s care and raised by his grandmother and uncle. This disparity should have prompted further inquiry, but D.S. never asked Doe’s mother for clarification. “[If he had done so,] counsel would have become skeptical of the impression given by [some of Doe’s] family members and would unquestionably have gone further to build a mitigation case. Further effort would presumably have unearthed much of the material postconviction counsel found [with respect to childhood abuse and neglect].” Rompilla, 545 U.S. at 391. When she was asked the question directly, during post-conviction proceedings, Doe’s mother testified that her children lived primarily with their grandmother. Doe’s grandmother and aunt confirmed that his mother abandoned Doe at a young age. It is not surprising that experts with mitigation training, charged with conducting a mitigation investigation, were better able to elicit useful information about deeply personal, shameful trauma and dysfunction than were a lawyer and investigator who did not follow up on obvious, critical DOE V. AYERS 27 than speaking “with them generally about the penalty phase,” he would have discovered powerful mitigating evidence. Instead, J.B. abandoned further investigation after “having acquired only rudimentary knowledge of [Doe’s] history from a narrow set of sources[,]” and despite what he “actually discovered” in the course of his limited investigation. Wiggins v. Smith, 539 U.S. 510, 524–25 (2003); see also Boyde v. Brown, 404 F.3d 1159, 1177 (9th Cir. 2005); Douglas, 316 F.3d at 1082, 1088. J.B. did travel to Doe’s home state, but when asked if he visited Doe’s house, J.B. said: “I remember going to the neighborhood and going to the bar but not – I drove by the [family-owned] bar. . . . But I wasn’t comfortable being me just getting out and walking in there by myself so I decided not to go in.” He spoke on the phone with Doe’s mother (and possibly others) while he was there, but did not conduct any in-person interviews. At no point during his representation of Doe, J.B. reported, did he speak with anyone other than those he called to testify at the penalty phase. When D.S. went to Doe’s home state, he, at least, got out of his car. However, he repeatedly failed to ask obvious questions, including follow-up questions when interviewees revealed potentially significant information. He did not ask relatives and friends who had known Doe during his childhood about his upbringing or behavioral signs of mental illness. When the mother of one of Doe’s girlfriends (both mother and daughter were named V.M.) said she felt he was “like a second son,” and that he called to speak with her after leads, and a psychological expert asked only to investigate guilt-phase mental-state defenses who was deprived of the background material she required (and requested) to do even that job adequately. 28 DOE V. AYERS he was released from prison about putting his sentence behind him, D.S. did not follow up to ask whether Doe had ever mentioned that he suffered abuse while incarcerated. When another interviewee, M.W., who had known Doe as he was growing up, described him as a “loner,” D.S. did not ask any follow-up questions about his mental health. Although Doe’s stepfather, B.G., had also served time in the same prison, D.S. did not ask him about abuse Doe might have suffered in prison. When a friend, J.A., reported that Doe told him over the phone that the prison was a “bad place,” D.S. did not ask whether Doe had said anything further. Other interviewees also mentioned that Doe was different after his release, or that they had spoken to him while he was incarcerated, but D.S. never asked them if they knew about any trauma Doe might have suffered in prison. As J.B. acknowledged, the important questions about Doe’s life were simply never asked. D.S. appears to have met only once with each interviewee, and many of the meetings were arranged by Doe’s mother at her home. Obviously, interviewees are less likely to be forthcoming about sensitive topics in the presence of family members and friends. See Correll v. Ryan, 539 F.3d 938, 945 (9th Cir. 2008) (noting that “counsel testified that he met only once with Correll’s father, sister, and brother, ‘around the kitchen table at the same time,’” in concluding that the interviews he conducted were “worthless”). In the taped interviews, D.S. did not ask whether interviewees knew of any others who might have more or better information about Doe’s family history. Although D.S. said that he would normally conduct interviews in a way that would lead to identification of potential witnesses, he testified only that it was “possible” this was done in this case. Other witnesses, such as those whom habeas counsel was able to DOE V. AYERS 29 find, were “easily within [counsel’s] reach,” and would have been discovered by trial counsel, “[h]ad [he] only looked.” Wallace, 184 F.3d at 1116. Some of these witnesses were able to speak to Doe’s experiences in prison and their psychological effects on him.