Criminal Law——Failure to Investigate and Present Mitigating Evidence in Absence of Aggravating Factors Renders Counsel Ineffective——Wiggins v. Smith, 539 U.S. 510 (2003)

The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees criminal defendants the right to “effective assistance” of counsel.  In applying “effective assistance” principles to capital sentencing proceedings, the Court has established that a defendant must prove his counsel’s performance was deficient and thereby prejudiced his defense to show a Sixth Amendment violation.  In Wiggins v. Smith, the Court considered whether counsel’s decision to forgo investigating and presenting mitigating evidence of the defendant’’s background at a capital sentencing proceeding violated the defendant’’s Sixth Amendment rights.  The Court held that the defendant’’s counsel had performed inadequately, and in so doing, violated the defendant’’s right to effective assistance of counsel. . . .