Keller v. State, 229 So. 3d 715

Jason Lee Keller was convicted (Oct. 2009) of capital murder in Harrison County and sentenced to death; conviction and sentence were affirmed by the Mississippi Supreme Court in Keller v. State, 138 So.3d 817 (Miss. 2014), cert. denied.
Keller filed a Motion for Leave to Proceed in the trial court with a Petition for Post-Conviction Relief raising multiple claims (ineffective assistance, prosecutorial misconduct, juror misconduct, Ring claim, Eighth Amendment challenge to method of execution, etc.).
The Court reviewed numerous affidavits from family, teachers, friends, physicians, and others describing mitigation evidence that trial counsel failed to investigate or present at sentencing.
Trial counsel did not retain a mitigation expert despite a pretrial psychological evaluator (Dr. Beverly Smallwood) recommending one.
The Court held Keller made a substantial showing under Strickland that counsel’s failure to investigate and present mitigating evidence amounted to ineffective assistance and granted leave to proceed on that claim (Issue I(C)); all other claims were denied.
A concurrence would also grant leave on the claim that counsel failed to prevent the jury’s consideration of a nonfinal armed robbery conviction as an aggravator; one justice objected in part to the order.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
I(C) Ineffective assistance for failing to investigate/ present mitigation	Keller: counsel failed to investigate, obtain a mitigation expert, and present significant mitigating evidence, causing prejudice under Strickland	State: trial record adequate; counsel’s investigation was reasonable	Granted leave to proceed — Court finds Keller made a substantial showing of ineffective assistance on this claim
I(B) Failure to prevent jurors from considering a nonfinal felony as an aggravator	Keller: counsel unreasonably failed to challenge jurors considering a nonfinal armed robbery charge as a prior conviction aggravator	State: jury use of prior conviction was proper / trial counsel’s performance adequate	Denied by majority; concurrence would grant leave on this issue
II(A) State presented false/misleading evidence about prior armed robbery conviction	Keller: prosecutor misled jury about Keller’s prior conviction status	State: evidence was not materially false or did not prejudice outcome	Denied by Court
IV Ring claim — eligibility decision by judge vs jury	Keller: death-eligibility findings must satisfy Sixth Amendment and Ring	State: sentencing procedure constitutionally sound under Mississippi practice	Denied by Court

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (ineffective assistance of counsel standard) (performance and prejudice test)
Keller v. State, 138 So.3d 817 (Miss. 2014) (affirming Keller’s conviction and sentence)
Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584 (2002) (Sixth Amendment requires jury determination of facts increasing maximum penalty for capital eligibility)