In Re David Esco Welch on Habeas Corpus

Summary

The California Supreme Court denied habeas relief on Welch’s claims of juror misconduct and ineffective assistance of counsel at the penalty phase. It upheld the referee’s finding that no credible evidence showed that bailiffs improperly communicated prejudicial information to jurors and concluded that, even assuming counsel inadequately investigated Welch’s childhood abuse, the omitted evidence did not create a reasonable probability of a different death verdict given the extensive aggravating evidence and the mitigation already presented.