Cecil Wood, Jr. v. Superintendent Robert F. Zahradnick

HAYNSWORTH, Chief Judge:

The Commonwealth of Virginia has appealed from an order of the district court granting a writ of habeas corpus to a prisoner convicted of rape and related offenses, upon whom a death sentence was imposed, later reduced to life imprisonment. See Wood v. Commonwealth, 213 Va. 346, 192 S.E.2d 808 (1973). The district court found that Wood’s lawyer’s performance was so inadequate as to amount to a deprivation of his rights under the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments. Wood v. Zahradnick, 430 F.Supp. 107 (E.D.Va.1977). We affirm.

The facts are adequately disclosed in the…