Death Row Inmate Falls Short in Ineffective Counsel Challenge

An Estonian immigrant, who was given asylum in the US after escaping from the Russian army, but was later convicted for murdering the California woman who provided him a place to live, isn’t entitled to relief from the death penalty, the Ninth Circuit said Monday.

A California state court reasonably found that Tauno Waidla wasn’t prejudiced by his lawyer’s failure to thoroughly investigate and present mitigation during sentencing, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said.

The decision vacated a May 2023 panel opinion finding Waidla’s lawyer provided ineffective assistance by not delving deeper into the mistreatment ...