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Fourth Circuit: Ineffective Assistance of Counsel in Death Penalty Case for Failure to Investigate Fetal Alcohol Syndrome as Mitigating Factor During Sentencing Phase
Loaded on Dec. 17, 2019
by Chad Marks
published in Criminal Legal News
January, 2020, page 11
Filed under:
Sentencing,
Death Penalty/Death Row,
Death Penalty.
Location:
United States of America.
by Chad Marks
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed a district court’s finding that counsel in a capital case was ineffective for their failure to investigate potentially mitigating evidence of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (“FAS”) during the sentencing phase.
Charles Christopher Williams was convicted by a South ...
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More from this issue:
- News in Brief
- National Fingerprint Database Frees Man After 36 Years, by Jayson Hawkins
- Seventh Circuit Holds Indiana Pointing a Firearm and Intimidation Convictions No Longer Qualify Under ACCA After Johnson, by Pat O'Connell
- Asset Forfeiture Not So Helpful to Crime-Fighting, by Edward Lyon
- New York Court of Appeals Overturns Murder Conviction, Finds Prosecutor Withheld Critical Video Evidence in Violation of Brady Obligations, by Dale Chappell
- Tennessee Supreme Court Reverses Conviction Because Trial Court Refused to Give ‘Necessity’ Jury Instruction Because Defendant Never Testified About Mental State, by Douglas Ankney
- Sixth Circuit Reverses District Court’s Denial of Safety-Valve Relief, by Douglas Ankney
- Georgia Supreme Court Announces Fundamental Overhaul of Jurisprudence Governing Appeals of Guilty Pleas and Out-of-Time Appeals, by Douglas Ankney
- California Court of Appeal: Equal Protection Requires Pretrial Detainees on Home Confinement Be Eligible for Good Conduct Credits, by Douglas Ankney
- U.S. Supreme Court ‘Death Caucus’ Setting Death Penalty Litigation Tone, by Kevin Bliss
- Georgia Supreme Court: Warrantless Search of Vehicle’s Airbag Control Module is Unconstitutional, by Douglas Ankney
- Seventh Circuit Vacates Sentence Because Sentencing Judge Should Have Recused Himself Due to Ex Parte Communications with U.S. Attorney’s Office, by Douglas Ankney
- Santa Didn’t Create Naughty Cops List, But It’s Worth Checking Twice, by Douglas Ankney
- Nevada Supreme Court: Trial Court Must Give Manslaughter Instruction Even When Evidence Is Circumstantial, by Douglas Ankney
- Seventh Circuit Reaffirms Sex Trafficking and Kidnapping Are not Violent Felonies for 924(c) After Davis, by Dale Chappell
- Supreme Court of Hawai’i Rules Presenting Falsified Polygraph Results Is Coercive Per Se, by Douglas Ankney
- Sixth Circuit Holds Career Offender Status Does not Bar Retroactive FSA Relief Under First Step Act, by Dale Chappell
- Using Algorithms to Erase Pot Convictions in California, by Douglas Ankney
- Colorado Supreme Court Announces Clarifications and Modifications to Proportionality Review Standard as Applied to Habitual-Offender Sentences, by Douglas Ankney
- Costly Electronic Monitoring Programs Replacing Ineffective Jail Bond Systems, by Kevin Bliss
- NJ Supreme Court: Confession not Voluntary Where Police Tell Suspect Truth Would Set Him Free, Promise Him Counseling Instead of Jail, and Minimize Seriousness of Offenses, by Douglas Ankney
- Eleventh Circuit: Conspiracy to Commit Hobbs Act Robbery not a Crime of Violence Under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c), by Douglas Ankney
- Third Circuit Grants Habeas Relief in Loss of GBMI Plea in Pennsylvania Court Due to IAC, Announces New Rule, by Dale Chappell
- Washington Supreme Court: Failure to Pay Fines Don’t Increase Sentencing Score, by Anthony Accurso
- Harmless Error: Explained, by Gabe Newland
- On Remand from Supreme Court, Eleventh Circuit Holds in Specific Circumstances an Ake Violation Constitutes Structural Error, by Douglas Ankney
- Refusing to Permit Attorney to Make Offer of Proof Is Abuse of Discretion, Says Indiana Supreme Court, by Douglas Ankney
- Police Use of Rapid DNA Machines Unregulated, by Jayson Hawkins
- Tenth Circuit Holds Davis Retroactive, Retaliation Against a Witness Not Crime of Violence Under § 924(c), by Dale Chappell
- Perils of Risk Assessment Tools in Criminal Justice, by Jayson Hawkins
- If It Saves More Than One Child, by Sandy Rozek
- U.S. District Court Holds Hobbs Act Robbery not Crime of Violence for § 924(c), Grants § 2255 Motion, by Dale Chappell
- From the Editors
- Fourth Circuit: Ineffective Assistance of Counsel in Death Penalty Case for Failure to Investigate Fetal Alcohol Syndrome as Mitigating Factor During Sentencing Phase, by Chad Marks
- Hawai’i Supreme Court Announces New Rule Requiring Both Judges and Juries to Consider Numerous Factors in Witness ID Cases, by Dale Chappell
- Insurance Companies Are Paying Cops To Investigate Their Own Customers, by Kendall Taggart
More from Chad Marks:
- Use of Solitary Confinement During Pandemic Detrimental To Prisoners and Not Slowing Spread of COVID-19, May 1, 2021
- COVID-19 Inspired Ban on Prison Visits in Texas Ends, April 1, 2021
- Sequel: Three Additional Federal Executions Before Trump Left Office, March 1, 2021
- Connecticut: Summary Judgment Denied in Deliberate Indifference Case Where Facial Lesion Turned Out To Be Skin Cancer, Nov. 1, 2020
- Ford Foundation President’s Support to Replace Rikers With Other Jails Criticized, Oct. 1, 2020
- Wisconsin: Court Dismisses Prisoners’ Suit Over Asbestos, Mold on Procedural Grounds, Sept. 1, 2020
- New Jersey: Commission Recommends State Take 100 Steps to Improve Re-Entry for Ex-Prisoners, Sept. 1, 2020
- New York: Prisoner Kills Himself After Brutal Beating by Guards, Aug. 1, 2020
- Jury Award $700,000 to Maryland Prisoner Assaulted by Guards, Aug. 1, 2020
- Is the Death Penalty Slowly Dying Across the Nation?, June 15, 2020
More from these topics:
- DOJ Finds Unconstitutional Conditions in Texas Juvenile Detention, Aug. 1, 2025. Staff-Prisoner Assault, Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, Sentencing, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Failure to Protect (Juveniles), Juvenile Prisons.
- Oklahoma Prisoner’s Execution Was Expedited by the Trump Administration, Aug. 1, 2025. Death Penalty, Death Row, Lethal Injection.
- On Remand, Eleventh Circuit Clarifies, Affirms Grant of Habeas Relief to Death Row Prisoner, Aug. 1, 2025. Habeas Corpus, Death Penalty, Death Row.
- Georgia Moves to Shield Intellectually Disabled Prisoners from Execution, June 1, 2025. Sentencing, Death Penalty.
- The Crushing Toll of Ohio’s Death Penalty: A Billion-Dollar Failure, May 15, 2025. Costs, Death Penalty.
- Fourth Circuit: District Court Failed to Provide Sufficient Explanation for Sentence Imposed and Did Not Address Defendant’s Arguments for Downward Variant Sentence, May 15, 2025. Sentencing, Drug Laws/Offenses.
- Fourth Circuit: Procedurally Unreasonable Sentence Where District Court Failed to Address Defendant’s Non-Frivolous Downward Variance Argument Based on Sentencing Disparity Due to Which State’s Statute Prior Conviction Based Upon, May 15, 2025. Sentencing, Failure To Consider Disparity, Federal-State Differences/Disparity/Conflicts, Disparity in Charging/Sentencing Practices.
- SCOTUS Announces Only ‘False’ Statements Made to FDIC Are Criminalized Under 18 U.S.C. § 1014, Not Statements That Are ‘Misleading’ but True, May 15, 2025. Sentencing, False Statements/Perjury.
- Idaho Warden Bought Execution Drugs on Roadside, May 1, 2025. Medication, Death Penalty, Lethal Injection Method of Execution.
- South Carolina Conducts First U.S. Execution by Firing Squad in 15 Years, May 1, 2025. Death Penalty, Method of Execution.
