Cite as: 539 U. S. 510 (2003)
Scalia, J., dissenting
and convincing evidence.1 Relying on these factual findings, the Maryland Court of Appeals rejected Wiggins' claim that his trial attorneys failed adequately to investigate potential mitigating evidence. Wiggins' trial counsel, it said, "did not have as detailed or graphic a history as was prepared by Mr. Selvog, but that is not a Constitutional deficiency. See Gilliam v. State, 331 Md. 651, 680-82, 629 A. 2d 685, 700-02 (1993), cert. denied, 510 U. S. 1077 . . . (1994); Burger v. Kemp, 483 U. S. 776, 788-96 . . . (1987)." Id., at 610, 724 A. 2d, at 16.
The state court having adjudicated Wiggins' Sixth Amendment claim on the merits, 28 U. S. C. § 2254(d) bars habeas relief unless the state-court decision "was contrary to, or involved an unreasonable application of, clearly established Federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court of the United States," § 2254(d)(1), or "was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence presented in the State court proceeding," § 2254(d)(2). The Court concludes without foundation that the Maryland Court of Appeals' decision failed both these tests. I shall discuss each in turn.
A
In concluding that the Maryland Court of Appeals unreasonably applied our clearly established precedents, the Court disregards § 2254(d)(1)'s command that only "clearly established Federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court of the United States," be used in assessing the reasonableness of state-court decisions. Further, the Court misde-scribes the state court's opinion while ignoring § 2254(e)(1)'s
1 Title 28 U. S. C. § 2254(e)(1) provides: "In a proceeding instituted by an application for a writ of habeas corpus by a person in custody pursuant to the judgment of a State court, a determination of a factual issue made by a State court shall be presumed to be correct. The applicant shall have the burden of rebutting the presumption of correctness by clear and convincing evidence."
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