Title: Deferential Dilemmas: Pinholster V. Ayers and Federal Habeas Claims of Ineffective Assistance of Counsel after Aedpa
Abstract: IntroductionIn April 1984, following a lengthy trial, a jury convicted Scott Lynn Pinholster of two counts of first-degree murder and found him eligible for the death sentence.1 His court-appointed counsel, astonished to learn that the prosecution planned to offer aggravating evidence at the penalty phase, admitted to the judge that they had not yet prepared a mitigation case.2 Nevertheless, Pinholster's counsel then declined a continuance, determining that the additional time would not make a great deal of difference to Pinholster's sentence.3 At the penalty phase, Pinholster's counsel waived opening statement; provided no medical or psychiatric testimony regarding Pinholster's childhood brain injury, deprived childhood, family history of criminal activity, and mental illness; and presented only one witness, whose testimony was brief[,] . . . damaging, incomplete, and inaccurate.4 The jury deliberated for two days before returning a death sentence.5After the California Supreme Court upheld Pinholster's conviction on direct appeal and later denied his two state habeas petitions that claimed ineffective assistance of counsel at the guilt and penalty phases of his trial, Pinholster brought a habeas petition in federal district court.6 Following an evidentiary hearing, the district court denied Pinholster's petition with respect to the guilt phase but found that counsel had performed deficiently at the penalty phase, concluding that Pinholster was denied his Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel.7 On appeal, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's conclusion regarding the guilt phase but reversed the finding of ineffective assistance of counsel regarding the penalty phase.8 After rehearing en banc, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court's judgment.9Sitting en banc, the judges of the Ninth Circuit were divided with respect to two primary points: (1) whether the federal courts had been sufficiently deferential to the state courts in permitting an evidentiary hearing on Pinholster's federal habeas corpus petition, and (2) whether the analysis of ineffective assistance of counsel was sufficiently deferential to Pinholster's counsel under the appropriate standard as articulated in 1984 by the U.S. Supreme Court in Strickland v. Washington.10Part I of this Comment briefly summarizes the factual and procedural history of Pinholster's underlying criminal case.11 Part II then explores the competing interpretations of deference with which the Ninth Circuit grappled en banc.12 Finally, Part III argues that the en banc majority's interpretation of deference is most appropriate and best serves the spirit of the Sixth Amendment's guarantee of effective representation.13 A contrary interpretation, such as the argument furthered by Chief Judge Alex Kozinski's dissent in the case, would not only render Strickland a meaningless standard but would also eviscerate the constitutional safeguards that serve as an essential check on capital punishment in the United States.14I. Factual and Procedural HistoryA. The Guilt Phase of the Underlying CasePinholster was charged with the 1982 murders of Thomas Johnson and Robert Beckett, as well as burglary and robbery charges arising out of the same incident.15 At the guilt phase of Pinholster's trial, the jury heard testimony from Art Corona, one of Pinholster's accomplices, who testified as part of a plea arrangement.16 Corona explained that on the night of the murders, he, Pinholster, and David Brown robbed a house belonging to Michael Kumar, a local drug dealer who was then out of town.17 Unbeknownst to the three accomplices, however, Kumar had arranged for Johnson and Beckett to serve as house-sitters to take care of his property during his absence.18 In the midst of the robbery, the two house-sitters arrived and attempted to thwart Pinholster and his accomplices. …
Publication Year: 2011
Publication Date: 2011-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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