Pierotti v. Walsh

POOLER, Circuit Judge:

John Pierotti claims that he was sentenced to life in prison after a trial that he could not hear. Pierotti suffers from a hearing impairment that requires him to use hearing aids, but. those aids were broken during Pierotti’s trial for murder. He says that although he told his trial counsel that he could not hear during his trial, counsel never requested an accommodation for Pierotti’s disability.

Pierotti now contends that he received ineffective assistance of counsel. He presented this argument to a state court on collateral review, but the court declined to address…