James W. Chambers v. Bill Armontrout

HEANEY, Senior Circuit Judge.

James Chambers appeals his state conviction and sentence of death for the capital murder of Jerry Lee Oestricker. We reverse the conviction because Chambers received ineffective assistance of counsel when his counsel (1) failed to interview, (2) failed to call at trial, and (3) failed to call at sentencing the only witness who would have testified that Chambers acted in self-defense.

I. BACKGROUND

In December 1982, Chambers was tried for the murder of Oestricker in the Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Missouri. At that trial, two eyewitnesses gave conflicting…