Schofield v. Holsey; and Vice Versa

Summary

The Supreme Court of Georgia reinstated Robert Wayne Holsey's death sentence, reversing the habeas court's vacatur: even assuming arguendo that trial counsel performed deficiently in furnishing records to the defense psychologist, developing mitigation evidence, and advancing a second-shooter theory, Holsey showed no reasonable probability of a different outcome in either phase of his trial. The Court affirmed Holsey's cross-appeal, confirming that the habeas court properly entertained his first-time mental retardation claim under the miscarriage-of-justice exception and correctly found, on conflicting expert evidence about IQ performance and adaptive behavior, that he failed to prove retardation beyond a reasonable doubt. In footnote 1 the Court disapproved Court of Appeals decisions refusing to consider the combined effect of counsel's errors, while reaffirming that Georgia recognizes no general cumulative-error rule for trial errors.