Fred Berre Douglas v. Jeanne S. Woodford, Warden, of Rswl California State Prison at San Quentin

Fred Douglas, a California death row inmate, appeals from the denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Because we find that Douglas’s counsel was constitutionally ineffective in failing to investigate and present significant mitigating evidence to the jury, we grant relief as to the penalty phase, but deny all his other claims.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In 1984, Douglas was convicted in California state court of the 1982 murders of two teenage girls, Beth Jones and Peggy Krueger. The case against Douglas was based primarily on the immunized testimony of his accomplice, Richard Hernandez, whose testimony was substantially corroborated by other witnesses.

Douglas was linked to the missing girls by Dana Lee, who testified he had met Douglas about a month before the murders. Douglas had asked if Lee knew of any women who would pose for nude photographs. Lee introduced Douglas to Krueger, who in turn introduced Douglas to Jones. The girls told Lee and their roommate, Terry Alimón, that they planned to pose nude for money. Alimón testified that Jones told her if she wasn’t back by noon the next day, “something was wrong.” When Jones did not return, Alimón…