Pedroso v. Nooth

Petitioner was convicted of murder after the jury rejected his defense that he was acting under an extreme emotional disturbance (EED) at the time of the killing. After an unsuccessful direct appeal, he filed a petition for post-conviction relief in which he alleged, among other claims, that his trial counsel provided constitutionally inadequate assistance by failing to communicate with him before trial, obtain a psychological evaluation of him, and otherwise present an EED defense. The state1 filed a motion to dismiss the petition on the ground that the petition, along with its attachments,…