What is a defense lawyer's duty to investigate the defense counsel's "most important defense"?

Defense counsel has a "duty to make reasonable investigations or to make a reasonable decision that makes particular investigations unnecessary." Strickland, 466 U.S. at 691. This includes a duty to investigate the defendant's "most important defense," Sanders, 21 F.3d at 1457, and a duty to adequately investigate and introduce into evidence records that demonstrate factual innocence or raise sufficient doubt on that question to undermine confidence in the verdict. Hart v. Gomez, 174 F.3d 1067, 1070 (9th Cir. 1999). When the record clearly shows that the lawyer was well-informed, and the petitioner fails to state what additional information would be gained by the discovery

Page 34