Cullen v. Pinholster

Pinholster's (defendant's) attorney interviewed his family and a psychiatrist about potential mitigating factors, then strategically chose to rely only on a family-sympathy defense at sentencing rather than presenting Pinholster's own troubled personal history, ultimately resulting in a death sentence; Pinholster's ineffective-assistance claim, based on the inadequacy of that mitigation investigation, was denied by the district court but granted by the Ninth Circuit.