The US Supreme Court broadened its review of the death...

The US Supreme Court broadened its review of the death penalty, agreeing to consider when death row inmates with bad lawyers deserve a second chance. Justices will review the case of a man who claims he was unfairly sentenced after being convicted of drowning an elderly woman in her bathtub. The court could use the case of Maryland death row inmate Kevin Wiggins to clarify the threshold for ineffective counsel claims in capital cases. The Wiggins case also involves a technical issue - what standard should be used in evaluating ineffective counsel claims. Wiggins had never been convicted of a crime before, and public defenders also did not tell the jury that Wiggins is mentally retarded, his new lawyers said. They also questioned whether there was enough evidence for a judge to find him guilty in the first place. A federal judge threw out the conviction and death sentence, but an appeals court reinstated them. His new attorney, Donald B. Verrilli Jr., said the appeals court failed to recognize what the Supreme Court and other courts have said is fundamental: lawyers must investigate their clients' pasts and other potential mitigating evidence that could help their case. Verrilli said the lawyers assigned to Wiggins by the state were inexperienced and overworked.