394
Opinion of the Court
" 'The prisoner argues there 'is a "reasonable probability" that at least one juror would have been moved to spare Petitioner's life had he heard' the mitigation evidence developed at the habeas hearing that was not presented at the trial. Summarizing, he contends there 'is a "reasonable probability" that had at least one juror heard any of this evidence—let alone all of this evidence—the outcome of this case would have been different.'
"We reject these contentions. The prisoner's discussion flies in the face of the Supreme Court's admonition in Lockhart, supra, that 'an analysis focusing solely on mere outcome determination, without attention to whether the result of the proceeding was fundamentally unfair or unreliable, is defective.' " 254 Va., at 25, 487 S. E. 2d, at 199.
Unlike the Virginia Supreme Court, the state trial judge omitted any reference to Lockhart and simply relied on our opinion in Strickland as stating the correct standard for judging ineffective-assistance claims. With respect to the prejudice component, he wrote:
"Even if a Petitioner shows that counsel's performance was deficient, however, he must also show preju-dice. Petitioner must show 'that there is a reasonable probability that but for counsel's unprofessional errors, the result . . . would have been different.' Strickland, 466 U. S. at 694. 'A reasonable probability is a probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome.' Id. Indeed, it is insufficient to show only that the errors had some conceivable effect on the outcome of the proceeding, because virtually every act or omission of counsel would meet that test. Id. at 693. The petitioner bears the 'highly demanding' and 'heavy burden' in establishing actual prejudice." App. 417.
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