Ray v. Alabama Department of Corrections

WILSON, Circuit Judge:

Alabama death row inmate Domineque Ray appeals the district court’s denial of his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Ray was convicted of capital murder in the course of first-degree rape and first-degree robbery. The appeal before us concerns whether Ray’s counsel was ineffective during the penalty phase of his trial by not investigating and presenting readily available mitigating evidence regarding his traumatizing childhood, mental deficiencies, and steroid abuse.

I

In September 2007, Ray was indicted and charged with capital murder in the death of…