Griffin v. Pierce

Dist. Ct. erred in denying defendant's habeas petition alleging, among other things, that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to conduct adequate investigation into mitigation during sentence phase of defendant's capital murder trial. State court ultimately imposed sentence of death, which was subsequently reduced to life sentence, and record showed that defendant's counsel did not conduct any investigation into potential mitigation evidence, which would have revealed that defendant was mentally impaired with troubled and abused childhood, and that defendant's background included existence of good acts with respect to taking care of his relatives.