Wood

Because Benjamin Harris was deprived of his Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel, we hold that the district court properly granted his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. His defense counsel’s many deficiencies cumulatively prejudiced the defense.

The court granted Benjamin Harris’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus for relief from his conviction for aggravated first degree murder and death sentence. The state appeals only the grant of relief from conviction. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1291 , 2253. 1 We affirm.

I

We summarize the factual and procedural background, which is set out in more detail in Harris ex rel. Ramseyer v. Blodgett, 853 F.Supp. 1239, 1248-51 (W-D.Wash.1994).

A. State Proceedings

In the early morning of June 14, 1984, Jimmie Turner’s body was discovered. That same day, Harris asked the police if they had heard rumors that he was involved in the crime. On July 2, he told the police that he was with his girlfriend when Turner was killed. Sixteen days later, he told the police that he and Gregory Lee Bonds were driving around Turner’s neighborhood when Turner was killed. Ray Meeks, an acquaintance of Harris and Bonds,…