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Huge en banc ruling from Ninth Circuit reversing death sentence for ineffective assistance

By Douglas A. Berman

I can only imaging what Kent Scheidegger at Crime & Consequences will think about today's en banc ruling from the Ninth Circuit in Pinholster v. Ayers, No. 03-99003 (9th Cir. Dec. 9, 2009) (available here). Here is how the majority opinion starts: Scott Lynn Pinholster (Pinholster) was sentenced to death after a jury convicted him of double murder with a knife in the course of a home robbery and burglary.  After exhausting his state remedies, Pinholster sought a writ of habeas corpus in federal district court in which he alleged, among other claims, ineffective assistance of counsel at both the guilt and penalty phases of his trial.  Applying the standards of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA), Pub. L. No. 104-132, 110 Stat...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on December 09, 2009 (boomark / email).