Davis

I. Facts and Procedural History

On September 10, 1997, Davis lured the mother of his two children to the desert outside of Las Vegas, Nevada, shot her six times, and left her for dead. Ultimately she did not die, but was instead paralyzed from the waist down. Davis was arrested a short time later and charged with attempted murder with a deadly weapon, and with being an ex-felon in posses- sion of a firearm.

At the request of his trial counsel, Jennifer Haight, Davis underwent a psychiatric evaluation to determine his compe- tency to stand trial. The evaluator concluded that Davis was competent to stand trial. However, the evaluation report noted that Davis reported a rough past. He claimed to have begun using drugs and alcohol at the age of fourteen, and at the time of the evaluation admitted to still using both. Davis also reported two prior suicide attempts, stating that he had been “messed up in the head” since an accident that left him with severe head trauma at the age of two. He reportedly experi- enced auditory hallucinations for several years prior to the shooting, with voices telling him to kill and hurt people.

On March 4, 1998, Davis pleaded guilty, pursuant to a…