United States v. Barrett, No. 12-7086 (10th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseDefendant Kenneth Barrett was convicted on two counts of felony murder and one count of intentionally killing a state law enforcement officer. He received a death sentence, and the Tenth Circuit affirmed that sentence on direct appeal. Defendant then filed a motion for relief under 28 U.S.C. 2255, which the district court denied. The Tenth Circuit then granted a certificate of appealability (COA) enabling him to appeal on several of his claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. Upon review of the merits of defendant's appeal, the Tenth Circuit affirmed on all but one claim: because defendant could have been entitled to relief on his contention that his trial attorneys were ineffective by failing to investigate and present evidence of his background and mental health for the trial’s penalty phase, the Court reversed and remanded for an evidentiary hearing on that issue.
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