Deutscher v. Whitley

In Deutscher v. Whitley, 884 F.2d 1152 (9th Cir.1989), we granted Deutscher’s petition for writ of habeas corpus because he was represented by constitutionally deficient counsel at sentencing and was prejudiced by his counsel’s failure to present mitigating evidence and to challenge an unconstitutional aggravating factor. By order of the United States Supreme Court, we review this ruling in light of McCleskey v. Zant, 499 U.S. -, 111 S.Ct. 1454, 113 L.Ed.2d 517 (1991), and Lewis v. Jeffers, 497 U.S. -, 110 S.Ct. 3092, 111 L.Ed.2d 606 (1990).

The government sufficiently pleaded abuse of the…