Cite as: 535 U. S. 685 (2002)
Stevens, J., dissenting
dered him unqualified to practice law, and that apparently led to his suicide. See App. 88-89. These circumstances "justify a presumption that respondent's conviction was insufficiently reliable to satisfy the Constitution." Cronic, 466 U. S., at 662.
I
Certain facts about respondent, Gary Cone, are not in dispute. Cone was a "gentle child," of exceptional intelligence, with an outstanding academic record in high school. App. 62-63. His father was an officer in the United States Army and a firm disciplinarian. He apparently enjoyed a loving relationship with his older brother and with both of his sisters. At age 8 or 9, however, Cone witnessed the drowning of his older brother. In 1966, at age 18, Cone enlisted in the Army and was sent to Germany. He was eventually transferred to Vietnam, where he served as a supply clerk until 1969. His service in Vietnam involved, among other things, transporting corpses and performing long hours of guard duty. He was awarded the Bronze Star, and he received an honorable discharge.
After returning to the States, Cone graduated from college and, although accepted into law school for August/ September 1980, never enrolled. According to Cone, he began to use drugs—mainly amphetamines—while in Vietnam, in order to perform extended guard duties, and he continued to do so after his discharge from the Army. In an apparent effort to fund this growing drug habit, he committed robberies, and, in 1972, after college, he was convicted of armed robbery and incarcerated in Oklahoma until 1979. While he was in prison, his father died and his fiancée, whom he met while in college, was raped and murdered. After his release from prison, he kept in touch with his mother (who lived in Arkansas) and his sister (who lived in Chicago), but did not stay in one place. The lack of evidence of gainful employment post-1979, coupled with evidence of travels to
703
Page: Index Previous 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007