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Mo Supreme Court grants relief

By Karl R. Keys, Esq.

The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday granted relief  in Mark Gill v. State on the failure to adequately investigate.  [more]From the headnotes: The circuit court clearly erred in failing to find that the performance of Gill?s counsel was deficient and that, as a result, he suffered prejudice. To prove ineffective assistance of counsel sufficient to reverse a death sentence, the movant must establish first that counsel?s performance was deficient and, second, that the deficient performance prejudiced the defense. Strickland v. Washington 466 U.S. 668, 687 (1984). While generally neither the state nor the defense may introduce evidence of the victim?s character in a murder case, the state is allowed to present evidence showing the victim?s uniqueness...continue to full post

Full post as published by Capital Defense Weekly on December 01, 2009 (boomark / email).