Winston v. Kelly, No. 09-2

District court's denial of habeas relief by a defendant convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death is affirmed in part, vacated in part, and remanded where: 1) with respect to Atkins and Atkins-related claims, decision of the district court is vacated and remanded as it was error for the district court to refuse to consider evidence of defendant's mental retardation because the evidence does not fundamentally alter defendant's claims and because habeas counsel was diligent in searching for it; and 2) district court's denial of defendant's ineffective assistance claims for both the guilt and sentencing phases, and jury instruction claim are affirmed.      

Read Winston v. Kelly, No. 09-2

Appellate Information

Argued: September 23, 2009

Decided: January 27, 2010

Judges

Opinion by Chief Judge  Michael

Counsel

For Appellant:  Jennifer Leigh Givens, Federal Community Defender's Office

For Appellee:   Steven Andrew Witmer, Office of the Attorney General