Terry v. Jenkins

Defense counsel performed deficiently in the guilt/innocent phase of the death penalty defendant's trial by miscommunicating to each other about the role each would play and doing very little to prepare mitigating evidence.

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In September 1995, Larry L. Jenkins, Jr., was convicted of the malice murders of Terry and Michael Ralston and related crimes. He was sentenced to death for each of the murders, and this Court affirmed. Jenkins v. State , 269 Ga. 282 498 SE2d 502 1998. Jenkins filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus on March 4, 1999. After conducting evidentiary hearings in December 2002 and January 2003, the habeas court vacated Jenkins’s death sentences and convictions, finding, inter alia, that the Supreme Court of the United States had declared death sentences for crimes committed by persons under the age of 18 to be unconstitutional and that Jenkins’s trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance in the guilt/innocence phase of Jenkins’s trial. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the judgment of the habeas court ordering a new trial. 1. The habeas court found as a matter of fact that Jenkins was 17 years old at the time of the crimes of which he was convicted and vacated Jenkins’s death sentences in light of the recent holding of the Supreme Court of the United States that death sentences for crimes committed by persons under the age of 18 violate the Constitution of the United States. Roper v. Simmons , 543 U. S. 551 125 SC 1183, 161 LE2d 1 2005 “A majority of States have rejected the imposition of the death penalty on juvenile offenders under 18, and we now hold this is required by the Eighth Amendment.”. The Warden has not appealed the ruling vacating Jenkins’s death sentences, and pursuant to Roper , supra, Jenkins is no longer subject to those sentences.

2. In his petition for habeas corpus, Jenkins challenged the sufficiency of his attorneys’ performance in the guilt/innocence phase of his trial, arguing that counsel failed to conduct a reasonable investigation into the crimes and possible defenses. We agree with the habeas court’s conclusion that counsel rendered ineffective assistance in the guilt/innocence phase of trial and affirm that portion of the habeas court’s order.

Terry v. Jenkins

Defense counsel performed deficiently in the guilt/innocent phase of the death penalty defendant's trial by miscommunicating to each other about the role each would play and doing very little to prepare mitigating evidence.

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