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Suggs: No Prejudice in Failure to Present Mental Deficit History

By Tim Cone

In Suggs v. McNeil, No. 09-12718 (June 24, 2010), the Court affirmed the denial of habeas relief to a Florida inmate sentenced to death for a 1990 murder.The Court rejected the argument that the Florida Supreme Court unreasonably applied the prejudice prong of Strickland when it determined that counsel?s failure at the penalty phase to adequately present a defense based on Suggs? mental health did not prejudice the outcome.The Court rejected the argument that the Florida courts were not entitled to deference because they compartmentalized the different aspects of prejudice. The Court noted that the Florida Supreme Court stated that it had considered the penalty phase ?as a whole.?The Court recognized that the jury had split 7-5 in favor of death, but found that Suggs had not shown that new evidence of his mental deficit, along with new aggravating evidence, would not have caused a single new juror to vote for life and no new jurors to vote for death...continue to full post

Full post as published by Defense Newsletter Blog on June 28, 2010 (boomark / email).