In what circumstances will a court grant a motion for a writ of habeas corpus against an attorney who failed to investigate prior criminal convictions?

cases, "strategic choices made after thorough investigation of law and facts relevant to plausible options are virtually unchallengeable; and strategic choices made after less than complete investigation are reasonable precisely to the extent that reasonable professional judgments support the limitations on investigation. In other words, counsel has a duty to make reasonable investigations or to make a reasonable decision that makes particular investigations unnecessary. In any ineffectiveness case, a particular decision not to investigate must be directly assessed for reasonableness in all the circumstances, applying a heavy measure of deference to counsel's judgments." (Strickland v. Washington, supra, 466 U.S. at pp. 690-691.) However, a court will not give deference to an attorney's strategic decision where "the failure of counsel to avail himself of information relevant to the defense removed all rational support from that decision." (In re Saunders (1970) 2 Cal.3d 1033, 1049.)

Defendant's petition for writ of habeas corpus sufficiently supports his argument that his trial counsel failed to adequately investigate his prior conviction, as it seems reasonably possible that there may have been a defense. The documents that defendant's trial counsel received regarding his Florida burglary conviction did not support the allegation that he suffered a prior serious conviction as defined in section 1170.12, subdivision (c)(1). "An appellate court receiving [a petition for a writ of habeas corpus] evaluates it by asking whether, assuming the petition's factual allegations are true, the petitioner would be entitled to relief. [Citations.] If no prima facie case for relief is stated, the court will summarily deny the petition. If, however, the court finds the factual allegations, taken as true, establish a prima facie case for relief, the court will issue an [order to show cause (OSC)]. [Citations.] . . . Issuance of an OSC, therefore, indicates the issuing court's preliminary assessment that the petitioner would be entitled to relief if his factual allegations are proved." (People v. Duvall (1995) 9 Cal.4th 464, 474-475.)

Page 17