Associated Press

The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the death sentence of a mentally
impaired Alabama man who killed his former lover.

The court, in a 7-2 vote, refused to overturn the death sentence of Holly
Wood, who was convicted in the shooting death of his former girlfriend, Ruby
Lois Gosha, in 1993. She was killed by a shotgun blast to her head as she
slept in her home in Troy, Ala.

A federal judge had tossed out the death sentence on the basis of the poor
performance of Wood's lawyer in the sentencing phase of his trial. The lawyer,
described in court papers as lacking criminal law experience, failed to tell
jurors that Wood had an IQ of less than 70 and had been classified as mentally
retarded.

The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the death
sentence, ruling that Wood had failed to show that the lawyers was
unconstitutionally ineffective.

The Supreme Court agreed. "Even if it is debatable, it is not unreasonable to
conclude that ... counsel made a strategic decision not inquire further into
the information contained in the report about Wood's mental deficiencies and
not present to the jury such information," Justice Sonia Sotomayor said.

She was joined in the opinion by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices
Antonin Scalia, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Clarence Thomas, Stephen Breyer and
Samuel Alito.

Justice John Paul Stevens and Anthony Kennedy dissented, with Stevens saying
he cannot see why Wood's lawyer did not investigate or present "powerful
mitigating evidence of Wood's mental deficits for the penalty phase" of the
trial.

"The only reasonable factual conclusion I can draw from this record is that
counsel's decision to do so was the result of inattention and neglect," he
said.

The case is Wood v. Allen, 08-9156.

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