GAINES v. MARSH

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA LAWRENCE GAINES : CIVIL ACTION : v. : NO. 20-361 : RICHARD MARSH, et al. : MEMORANDUM KEARNEY, J. April 30, 2021 We granted Lawrence Gaines’s habeas petition last month finding the failure of Mr. Gaines’s trial counsel to request a “no adverse inference” jury instruction both during the trial court’s charging conference and after the charge without consulting Mr. Gaines fundamentally altered the jury’s consideration of homicide offenses in light of his viable self-defense theories and absent overwhelming evidence of…