Warren Wesley Summerlin v. Dora B. Schriro, Director of Arizona Department of Corrections

THOMAS, Circuit Judge:

In this appeal we consider whether petitioner received ineffective assistance of counsel at the penalty phase of his capital murder trial. We conclude that he did and reverse the judgment of the district court denying a writ of habeas corpus.

I

Extraordinary plot lines rarely end; they frequently reappear in sequels. Thus, this case returns to us from the Supreme Court for us to write the next chapter in this unusual saga.

We need not recount the prior episodes in detail; the underlying factual and procedural history is chronicled in our prior opinion. Summerlin v. Stewart…