Landrigan

BACKGROUND

In 1989, Landrigan escaped from an Oklahoma prison and soon thereafter murdered Chester Dean Dyer in Arizona. He was convicted of first degree murder in Arizona state court and sentenced to death. The Arizona Supreme Court affirmed his conviction and sentence. Arizona v. Landrigan, 176 Ariz. 1, 8 (1993).

Landrigan filed a petition for post-conviction relief in the Arizona Superior Court, urging that his counsel, Dennis Far- rell, had been ineffective by failing to investigate and present mitigating evidence at the sentencing proceeding. Landrigan also requested an evidentiary hearing in connection with this claim. The Superior Court denied the request for the hearing and the petition, concluding that Landrigan could not argue his counsel was ineffective at sentencing because he had instructed his attorney not to present mitigating evidence. The Arizona Supreme Court summarily denied the petition.

Landrigan thereafter filed a petition for writ of habeas cor- pus in federal district court raising a number of claims, including ineffective assistance of counsel. Landrigan sought to expand the record to include declarations by mental health experts and persons familiar…