718
Stevens, J., dissenting
basic assumption: that counsel has "made all significant decisions in the exercise of reasonable professional judgment." 466 U. S., at 690. Second, a proper Strickland inquiry is difficult, if not impossible, to conduct when counsel has completely abdicated his role as advocate, because the abdication results in an incomplete trial record from which a court cannot properly evaluate whether a defendant has or has not suffered prejudice from the attorney's conduct. Finally, counsel's total failure as an adversary renders "the likelihood that the verdict is unreliable" to be "so high that a case-by-case inquiry is unnecessary." Mickens v. Taylor, ante, at 166.
The Court's holding today is entirely consistent with its recent decision in Mickens. In both cases, according to the Court, a presumption that every lawyer in every capital case has performed ethically, diligently, and competently is appropriate because such performance generally characterizes the members of an honorable profession. It is nevertheless true that there are rare cases in which blind reliance on that presumption, or uncritical analysis of a lawyer's proffered explanations for aberrant behavior in the courtroom, may result in the denial of the constitutional "right to the effective assistance of counsel." McMann v. Richardson, 397 U. S. 759, 771, n. 14 (1970). The importance of protecting this right in capital cases cannot be overstated.17 Effective representa-17 A recent, comprehensive report issued by the Governor's Commission reviewing Illinois' capital punishment system concluded: " 'Providing qualified counsel is perhaps the most important safeguard against the wrongful conviction, sentencing, and execution of capital defendants. It is also a safeguard far too often ignored.' " Report of the Governor's Commission on Capital Punishment 105 (2002) (quoting Constitution Project, Mandatory Justice: Eighteen Reforms to the Death Penalty 6 (2001)).
Members of this Court have similarly recognized both the importance of qualified counsel in death cases, and the frequent lack thereof. See, e. g., McFarland v. Scott, 512 U. S. 1256 (1994) (Blackmun, J., dissenting from denial of certiorari) (describing the "crisis in trial and state postconviction legal representation for capital defendants"); Lane, O'Connor Ex-
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