Death Sentence Tossed; Jury Not Told of Defendant’s Brain Injury

A Georgia man sentenced to die after being convicted of murder will be resentenced after the Eleventh Circuit found his attorneys provided ineffective assistance at his sentencing.

Lawrence Jefferson’s attorneys acted unreasonably when they failed to tell the jury about the brain injury he suffered as a child, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit said.

The attorneys ignored the recommendation of their retained psychologist that a neuropsychological evaluation be conducted to assess Jefferson’s organic brain injury and his mental health at the time he committed the homicide, the court said.

They also ignored “a series of red ...