091802P.pdf   01/06/2011  Michael Worthington  v.  Don Roper
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  09-1802
                          and No:  09-2000
   U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri - St. Louis   
   [PUBLISHED] [Gruender, Author, with Arnold and Shepherd, Circuit Judges]
   Prisoner case - habeas. District court erred in finding that
   Worthington's attorneys were ineffective during the penalty phase of his
   state court murder trial on the ground that they failed to adequately
   investigate his social and medical history and pursue a psychological
   mitigation strategy; this issue was adjudicated on the merits by the
   postconviction trial court when it found his claim failed to satisfy either
   Strickland prong; when state appellate court affirms a decision without
   reasoning, the court looks through the silent opinion and applies AEDPA
   review principles to the last reasoned opinion of the state courts; here,
   that is the opinion of the postconviction trial court, and that court did not
   unreasonably apply Strickland or unreasonably determine the facts in
   light of the evidence presented when it rejected Worthington's claims;
   district court did not in rejecting Worthington's claim that counsel had
   performed ineffectively by failing to conduct an adequate investigation
   and present certain additional mitigation witnesses; nor did the court err
   by rejecting the claim that counsel was constitutionally defective for
   failing to investigate the background of a state witness or object to her
   testimony on the ground that the state had failed to disclose her correct
   name and the substance of her testimony as Worthington failed to
   establish prejudice.