Wiggins v. Smith

Wiggins (defendant), facing the death penalty for murder, was convicted after a bench trial. His attorneys told the jury in their penalty-phase opening that it would hear about Wiggins's difficult life but then presented no life-history evidence at all, and the jury imposed death. On habeas review, new counsel presented testimony detailing severe sexual and physical abuse Wiggins suffered from his mother and multiple foster placements; one original attorney admitted he did not recall hiring a social worker to investigate, despite available state funding, and said the defense team chose instead to contest Wiggins's direct responsibility for the murder. State courts found no ineffective assistance; a federal district court granted habeas relief, but the Fourth Circuit sided with the state courts, and the Supreme Court granted certiorari.

Whether defense counsel's failure to investigate mitigating evidence, underlying a decision not to present it, constitutes ineffective assistance of counsel under the Sixth Amendment.