Having Two Sets of Ineffective Lawyers Gets Inmate Off Death Row

A South Carolina death-row inmate is entitled to a new sentence because both his trial and appellate counsel were ineffective, the Fourth Circuit said Thursday.

While he was young, Sammie L. Stokes was regularly beaten and sexually abused; he stole food so he could eat; he had to watch while his mother pimped his sister; and he witnessed the death of both of his parents.

Stokes’ childhood led to drug use and a life of crime, which ultimately led him to confessing to a capital murder.

Stokes’ trial counsel was inexperienced with mitigating evidence, the U.S. Court of Appeals for ...