The court of appeals affirmed a district court judgment in part, reversed in part, and remanded the action for further proceedings. The court held that a trial counsel’s utter failure to investigate and present mitigating sentencing evidence of a capital defendant’s troubled childhood, his mental illness, and his history of chronic drug abuse constituted deficient performance.
Steven James and two accomplices were separately convicted in 1982 for the brutal murder of Juan Maya. James, in particular, was convicted of first-degree murder and kidnapping.
