Opinion ID: 2348914
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Constitutional Standards for Performance of Defense Counsel

Text: The Sixth Amendment affords all citizens facing criminal charges the right to effective assistance of counsel. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 686, 104 S.Ct. 2052. The proper measure of defense counsel's performance is reasonableness under prevailing professional norms. Id. at 688, 104 S.Ct. 2052. It is well-established that effective representation under the Sixth Amendment requires counsel to appropriately investigate, prepare, and present the client's case. Because of the unique nature of capital sentencing  both the stakes and the character of the evidence to be presented  capital defense counsel have a heightened duty to present mitigation evidence to the jury. See Eddings v. Oklahoma, 455 U.S. 104, 112, 102 S.Ct. 869, 71 L.Ed.2d 1 (1982) (because the focus of capital penalty phase proceedings is on the defendant's personal culpability, the sentencing jury must have the opportunity to evaluate the character and record of the individual offender, as well as the circumstances of the particular offense.); Penry v. Lynaugh, 492 U.S. 302, 319, 109 S.Ct. 2934, 106 L.Ed.2d 256 (1989) (evidence about the defendant's background and character is relevant because of the belief ... that defendants who commit criminal acts that are attributable to a disadvantaged background, or to emotional or mental problems, may be less culpable than defendants who have no such excuse). In a trilogy of recent decisions, the United States Supreme Court has further clarified the constitutional obligations imposed on capital defense counsel in penalty phase proceedings. Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362, 120 S.Ct. 1495, 146 L.Ed.2d 389 (2000); Wiggins v. Smith, 539 U.S. 510, 123 S.Ct. 2527, 156 L.Ed.2d 471 (2003); Rompilla v. Beard, 545 U.S. 374, 125 S.Ct. 2456, 162 L.Ed.2d 360 (2005). In each of those cases, the Court emphasized the duty of capital defense counsel to investigate and present mitigating evidence regarding the capital client's background. In Williams, a case in which the evidence in aggravation was extreme, the Court reversed the defendant's sentence because his counsel failed to present mitigation evidence regarding his life history. 529 U.S. at 398-99, 120 S.Ct. 1495. The Court noted, in particular, that defense counsel failed to present available evidence relating to the physical abuse and neglect the defendant experienced as a child. Id. at 395, 120 S.Ct. 1495. In Wiggins, the Court confirmed that an attorney has an affirmative obligation to investigate and present mitigation evidence to the jury at the penalty phase relating to the defendant's background. 539 U.S. at 534, 123 S.Ct. 2527. Even more recently, in Rompilla, the Court reversed a death sentence because defense counsel failed to present evidence relating to the defendant's background and mental health. Rompilla, 545 U.S. at 392-93, 125 S.Ct. 2456.