Lynch v. Secretary, FL Dept. of Corr., No. 12-15188 (11th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CasePetitioner, sentenced to death for the murder of a mother and daughter, appealed from the district court's grant in part and denial in part of his 28 U.S.C. 2254 federal habeas petition. The State appealed from the part of the judgment granting petitioner relief based on his claim that he was denied effective assistance of counsel because counsel advised him, after he had entered a guilty plea, to waive his right to a jury in the sentence stage of his capital trial. Applying the prejudice standard from Hill v. Lockhart, the court concluded that petitioner was not prejudiced by counsel's deficient advice regarding the waiver of a jury trial and the state court's decision was not an unreasonable application of clearly established law. The court rejected petitioner's remaining ineffective assistance of counsel claims. Accordingly, the court affirmed the part of the district court's judgment denying habeas relief to petitioner and reversed the part of the judgment granting him relief.
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