Opinion ID: 1826905
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Rompilla

Text: In a related case, the United States Supreme Court held that counsel was ineffective for failing to make reasonable efforts to review the court file on the defendant's prior conviction. See Rompilla, 545 U.S. at 377, 125 S.Ct. 2456. Applying the Strickland standard, the Supreme Court stated counsel's performance was deficient for several reasons. First, counsel knew that the prosecution intended to seek the death penalty by proving Rompilla had a significant history of felony convictions indicating the use or threat of violence. Second, the prior offense court file was readily available and relatively small. Third, the prior offense was similar to the crime charged. And fourth, there was a great risk that testimony about a similar violent crime would hamstring counsel's chosen defense of residual doubt. Id. at 383-86, 389-90, 125 S.Ct. 2456. The Supreme Court determined that counsel's lapse was prejudicial because [i]f the defense lawyers had looked in the file on Rompilla's prior conviction, it is uncontested they would have found a range of mitigation leads that no other source had opened up. Id. at 390, 125 S.Ct. 2456. Based on this evidence, the Supreme Court concluded that counsel would have built a mitigation case rather than relying on residual doubt. Id. at 391, 125 S.Ct. 2456. The Supreme Court determined that the undiscovered mitigating evidence, taken as a whole, would likely have influenced the jury's appraisal of Rompilla's culpability. Therefore, the likelihood of a different result was sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome. Id. at 376, 125 S.Ct. 2456.