Page:United States Reports, Volume 542.djvu/690

Rh Hughes on the night of the shooting. The state court denied this motion, and respondent appealed both rulings to the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals.

That court affirmed. It upheld the denial of new trial, observing that respondent had already ﬁled an earlier such motion, that there was "no satisfactory reason given for the defendant's failure to locate this witness" during the seven years that had elapsed, and that the proposed testimony "would serve merely to impeach Hughes' memory about having seen [Gooch] that night." App. to Pet. for Cert. 88. It also affirmed the denial of postconviction relief, noting that there had never "been any showing on the record of favor able testimony that would have been elicited" from Gooch had counsel interviewed her, and that even crediting respondent's "unsubstantiated pleading," "it in no way rises to the level of contradicting what Hughes claims to have seen" respecting the shooting itself. Id., at 96–97 (emphasis added).

Respondent then sought federal habeas relief, and the District Court granted the State's motion for summary judgment. It found that there had been ineffective assistance of counsel, noting several shortcomings and opining that there was a reasonable probability of prejudice. It observed, however, that it could grant relief only if the state court's adjudication of respondent's claim was "contrary to, or involved an unreasonable application of, clearly established Federal law." 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1). It concluded that the state court's application of Strickland, while erroneous, was not unreasonable.

The Sixth Circuit reversed. 80 Fed. Appx. 392 (2003). Although it found a number of flaws in counsel's performance, its grant of relief under § 2254(d)(1) was based on only two specific grounds: ﬁrst, that the state court had unreasonably applied Strickland, given that Gooch's statement undermined the credibility of Hughes' testimony; and second, that the state court's opinion was contrary to Strickland because