Michael Wayne Shellito v. State of Florida, Appellee Michael Wayne Shellito v. Michael D. Crews

Summary

The court affirmed the denial of relief on Shellito’s guilt-phase claims, including ineffective-assistance, Brady, Giglio, jury-contact, and appellate-counsel claims. It reversed the denial of Shellito’s penalty-phase ineffective-assistance claim because counsel inadequately investigated and presented substantial mental-health and background mitigation, undermining confidence in the death sentence. The court vacated the death sentence and remanded for a new penalty-phase proceeding while denying habeas relief.