Ambrose Sykes, Defendant Below, Appellant v. State of Delaware, Plaintiff Below, Appellee — Strine, J., Dissenting

Summary

The dissent agrees that trial counsel performed deficiently by failing to investigate and present mitigation evidence during the capital penalty phase, but disagrees that Sykes suffered no prejudice. It would find a meaningful chance that extensive evidence of childhood abuse, deprivation, family violence, criminal coercion, and possible brain damage could have led a reasonable jury or judge to impose life imprisonment rather than death. The dissent would remand for a new penalty-phase proceeding.