Is there any case law where a defendant's trial counsel fails to present mitigating evidence at the penalty phase?
California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from Clark, In re, 21 Cal.Rptr.2d 509, 5 Cal.4th 750, 855 P.2d 729 (Cal. 1993):
2. At the penalty phase, the defendant's trial counsel, without justification, fails to present mitigating evidence. Had counsel presented such evidence, it is more probable than not that the jury would have imposed a sentence of life without possibility of parole, but a reasonable jury could have imposed a sentence of death. (See, e.g., Deutscher v. Whitley (9th Cir.1993) 991 F.2d 605.)
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