Jonathan Gentry v. Stephen Sinclair

Jonathan Lee Gentry was convicted in a Washington state court of aggravated first degree murder, with a finding of the aggravating circumstance of committing the murder to protect or conceal the identity of a person committing a crime, and was sentenced to death. The Washington Supreme Court affirmed the conviction and sentence and the United States Supreme Court denied Gentry’s petition for certiorari. State v. Gentry (“Gentry ”), 125 Wash.2d 570 , 888 P.2d 1105, 1156 , cert. denied, 516 U.S. 848 , 116 S.Ct. 131 , 133 L.Ed.2d 79 (1995). Subsequently, the Washington Supreme Court denied Gentry’s petition for post-conviction relief. In re Personal Restraint Petition of Jonathan Lee Gentry (“Gentry PRP”), 137 Wash.2d 378 , 972 P.2d 1250, 1271 (1999). Through several orders, the district court denied Gentry’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 , and he appeals that denial to us.

One of Gentry’s habeas claims is that his trial counsel was ineffective at the penalty phase for failing to investigate Gentry’s psychological history and consequently failing to present mitigating evidence of dysfunction within that history. The district court determined…