Johnny Franklin Harris v. Vernon Housewright, Director, Arkansas Department of Correction

HEANEY, Circuit Judge.

Johnny Franklin Harris appeals from the district court’s1 denial of his petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. He contends that he did not receive effective assistance of counsel in a state court jury trial in which he was convicted of aggravated robbery and murder, and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.2 Because we find that the performance of Harris’s attorneys, when viewed as a whole, did not demonstrate the level of skill customary for reasonably competent practitioners under similar circumstances, and that Harris was prejudiced…