Full opinion text
ILANA DIAMOND ROVNER, Circuit Judge. In 1982, an Illinois jury convicted eighteen-year-old Patrick Hampton of deviate sexual assault, attempted rape, robbery, and aggravated battery, and the trial judge ordered him to serve an extended prison term of sixty years. Hampton filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, alleging (among other things) that his trial counsel was constitutionally ineffective for failing to investigate and interview exculpatory eyewitnesses to the crimes of which he was convicted and for making promises in his opening statement to the jury that he did not keep. Following an evidentiary hearing, the district court granted the writ on these grounds. Hampton v. Leibach, 2001 WL 1518533 (N.D.Ill. Nov.29, 2001). The State has appealed. By order of the United States Supreme Court, Hampton has been released from prison during the pen-dency of this appeal. We affirm the district court’s judgment. I. The offenses of which Hampton was convicted took place at a rhythm and blues concert held at the Chicago International Amphitheatre on the evening of December 29, 1981. Four bands performed at the concert: Chocolate Milk, Slave, Michael Henderson, and Zapp. Shortly after midnight, while the last band was still playing, a group of up to forty individuals marched up the aisle toward the stage, chanting “Black Gangster Disciples” and “Third World Disciple Nation,” pounding their fists together, and making gang signals with their hands. Three Latino concertgoers — Hugo N., Martha N., and Denise M. — were seated in the fifth row of the theater. As they arose from their seats and attempted to leave, the group in the aisle attacked them, removing their clothes, taking their wallets and jewelry, beating them, and sexually assaulting the two women. Security guards eventually intervened and rescued the three victims of the assault. None of the perpetrators was detained at the scene. Fourteen year-old Keith Powell attended the concert and witnessed the attack. He later identified a number of former acquaintances from the Robert Taylor Homes (a public housing project) as having been in the group of people who had marched toward the stage of the theater. Hampton was among the individuals that Powell identified, although Powell would later testify that he did not actually see Hampton participate in the attack on the three Latinos. Hampton was arrested on December 31, 1981. He was eighteen years old at that time and had never before been arrested. Ultimately, nine individuals, including Hampton, were charged with the attacks. Six of them pleaded guilty and were sentenced to the short periods of time they had already spent in jail awaiting trial. Three defendants — Hampton, Ronald Mallory, and Ricky Knight — pleaded not guilty. They were tried jointly before three separate juries. Attorney Jack Rodgon represented Hampton at the trial. Hampton’s family had retained Rodgon, who previously had represented Hampton’s brother. In advance of trial, Rodgon sought to withdraw as Hampton’s counsel, asserting that his fees were not being paid and that Hampton and his family were not cooperating with him in preparation of the case. The trial judge, Hon. Earl E. Strayhorn, proposed to solve the problem by appointing Rodgon. Rodgon demurred, indicating there were “some problems” with representing Hampton. R. 48-1 at 129. The judge was unmoved and refused to release Rodgon from the engagement; he subsequently granted Rodgon’s motion to continue as Hampton’s counsel by appointment. At trial, Powell testified that near the end of the concert, a group of men approached the Amphitheatre stage, making gang-related signs with their hands and chanting gang slogans. The three defendants were members of that group. Powell had known the defendants for two to three years; he had once lived in the Robert Taylor Homes where the defendants resided. Powell saw a disturbance break out near the stage. At some point during the melee, a naked woman ran up the aisle; he also saw Knight throw a pair of pants in the air. Although the stage lights were lit during this incident, the rest of the lights in the Amphitheatre were darkened. Following the concert, Powell took the 43rd Street bus back to the Robert Taylor Homes near 43rd and State Streets, where he was staying with his aunt. He saw each of the three defendants (among other individuals that he knew) on that bus. He also overheard a conversation in which someone — he could not say who — bragged about having “stuffed his fingers” into the vagina of a woman, R. 48-2 at 563, and having taken jewelry. Powell reported what he had seen and heard to the police on the afternoon of December 31. Powell testified that although Hampton was in the group that approached the stage, he had not seen Hampton attack anyone, nor had he heard Hampton say anything on the bus. Powell also testified that he had picked Hampton out of a line-up, and he was positive on this point. R. 48-2 at 624. However, the trial evidence would subsequently reveal that he had never picked Hampton out of a line-up. R. 48-3 at 1087. Hugo N., one of the three victims of the assault, testified that he had attended the concert with his girlfriend, Denise M., his sister, Martha N., and Martha’s boyfriend, Scott S. They sat in the fifth row on the main floor of the Amphitheatre. A number of disturbances preceded the assault in which he, Denise, and Martha were injured: In the intermission following the second act, Martha’s boyfriend was struck in the head with a crowbar; during the third act, Hugo saw security personnel chasing someone through the theater; and during the intermission between the third and final acts, he saw another fight break out among eoneertgoers. During the last act, when Hugo, Denise, and Martha saw the group of men moving down the aisle toward the stage chanting “Third World Disciple Nation” and making hand signals, they decided to leave. (Scott S. had already left due to his injury.) As they attempted to do so, however, the group blocked their exit and attacked them. Hugo lost sight of Martha. As Hugo attempted to shield Denise from the group, they were both kicked and punched. His shirt was torn off, he felt people going through his pockets (his wallet, keys, and jewelry all were taken) and then the rest of his clothes were torn from his body. Denise was also being stripped of her clothes. Knight twice struck him and Denise with a chair, and on the second blow they both fell to the floor. At this point, a number of attackers had exposed their penises, and Hugo saw Knight put his in Denise’s mouth, telling her “something like ‘here, take it.’ ” R. 48-2 at 766. A security guard eventually came to his aid; another helped Denise. They were taken to a first aid station and subsequently by ambulance to a hospital. Hugo later identified Knight from photographs and from a line-up. He did not identify Hampton as one of his attackers. Nor did he give the police a description of his assailants prior to the first line-up that he viewed. Hugo agreed that at the time of his assault, the last band was still playing, the air in the Amphitheatre was smoke-filled, and the only light was coming from the multi-colored stage lights. Denise M. testified that when she, Hugo, and Martha attempted to leave the theater, their path was blocked by a group of fifteen to twenty men who were chanting and making hand signals. She and Hugo were pushed and shoved, and she felt hands grabbing her. Her clothing and jewelry were ripped from her person, and she felt fingers being pushed into her vagina. After someone twice struck them with a chair, she fell dazed to the ground along with Hugo. A number of the men had their penises out, and two of them approached her. Knight attempted to put his in her mouth (saying “here, take it,” R. 48-3 at 1017) as did Mallory. Several men sat on her legs and one tried to pull them apart. Denise saw one of the attackers, whom she identified as Hampton, move his hands and she felt him try to force a cold, hard object into her vagina. Eventually, a security guard arrived and managed to break up the assault. Denise suffered a number of injuries from the attack, including a tear in her vagina that required surgical repair, a bladder infection, and scarring on her breast. From photographs and from a line-up, she subsequently identified Hampton as the individual who had attempted to force an object into her vagina. On cross-examination, Denise testified that she could not estimate how long she had seen this individual. She indicated that there were many men who were attacking her, and that she was concentrating on the faces of the men who tried to put their penises in her mouth. Prior to viewing photographs and a line-up, she did not give a description of Hampton or her other assailants to the police. Martha N. testified that the assault began as a group of men began to march toward the stage, making signals at another group that was standing in front of the stage. As she looked over at the aisle, she saw Knight gathering men around him as they proceeded down the aisle. When she, Hugo, and Denise attempted to move into the aisle in order to leave, she found herself surrounded by a group of up to thirty or thirty-five men. Knight swung a chair at her and she ducked to avoid the blow. She then felt others pulling her by the hair toward the stage. She was punched and kicked, and her jewelry was taken. A man that she identified as Hampton tore her pants and attempted (unsuccessfully) to put his hand into her vagina. When she tried to get away, she heard Knight say, “Get her. Get her.” R. 48-2 at 856. She managed to run to a security guard and asked for his help, but he did nothing. She then located a second guard who did help her. Martha testified that she subsequently picked Hampton out of line-up that took place on December 31. She acknowledged that she had only seen his face for four to five seconds on the night of the assault and that during that time she was kicking and flailing at the people who were attacking her. Prior to viewing the December 31st line-up, she did not describe Hampton or her other assailants to the police beyond saying that they were young black males. R. 48-3 at 949-50. Detective Thomas Ptak later acknowledged on cross-examination that according to a written investigative report that he had helped to prepare, Martha N. had identified Ezra Garner, not Hampton, as the man who had tried to put his hand into her vagina. R. 48-3 at 984. Ptak testified that the report was erroneous, and that Martha had actually identified Hampton. William Heinrichs, a field supervisor for the Cook County Sheriffs office, was moonlighting as a security guard at the concert. Just after midnight, a young Latina in a torn blouse and pants (Martha N.) approached him and told him that a fight was taking place and that her brother and his girlfriend were being attacked. He left her in thé custody of another guard, then rounded up ádditional other guards to assist him. As he and other guards approached the scene of the attack, he saw a large group of black men gathered in a circle. In the center of that circle, a man and a woman were on the ground being beaten. As Heinrichs pushed his way through to the center of the circle, he saw a young black man that he later identified as Hampton bending over the woman, thrusting his arm toward her vaginal area. One of the other guards yanked him off the woman, and the guards helped the two victims — both of them naked and bruised — to safety. Heinrichs testified that he grabbed the assailant he identified as Hampton by the shoulder, but was unable to keep him and the others from fleeing. On the witness stand, Heinrichs indicated that he saw Hampton for no more than three to four seconds during the assault; he also testified that he had searched Hampton earlier in the evening, when Hampton was admitted to the theater. Following the incident, Heinrichs made no effort to contact the police for more than a week; ultimately, someone from the police department contacted him on January 6. Later that day, Heinrichs identified Hampton and three other individuals as participants in the attacks from a photograph of a line-up. On the previous day, Heinrichs had seen a television news report about the attack. That report featured a picture of Hampton (who by then was in police custody), and in Hein-richs’ estimation, the photograph of Hampton had been displayed on the air for as long as one minute. Ricky Knight called no witnesses in his defense. He offered only a single stipulation to the effect that a detective would testify that the police investigation revealed it was Ronald Mallory, and not Knight, who had put his penis in Denise’s mouth. Ronald Mallory presented four witnesses besides himself. A woman who had grown up in the same neighborhood as he testified that to her knowledge he was not a gang member. A second witness, who knew Mallory from the projects and considered him a friend, testified that she had attended the concert, that she had seen the attacks, that she was standing right next to Mallory while the attacks took place, that Mallory had not participated in the attacks, and that he was not, to her knowledge, a gang member. Gregory Hubbard testified that he had known Mallory for five to six years from the neighborhood, that he too was present at the concert, that he saw Mallory during the attacks, that Mallory had not taken part in the attacks, and that Mallory was not a gang member. Gregory Mallory (“Gregory” or “Gregory Mallory”), Ronald’s brother, testified that he too had attended the concert, that he had seen the attacks, that he saw where his brother was during the attacks, and that Mallory was not one of the attackers. Gregory acknowledged that he had a previous conviction for an unspecified crime. Finally, Mallory himself testified, acknowledging that he was present at the concert but denying any involvement in the attacks. Mallory said that he approached the police on his own and gave them a statement after hearing that they were looking for him. He conceded, however, that he had lied to the authorities when he told them he had not seen anyone he knew (other than his brother) at the concert. Two of Mallory’s witnesses had favorable things to say about Hampton. The government asked Hubbard on cross-examination whether he had seen anyone he recognized participating in the attacks. Hubbard said that he had not, and on further questioning, testified that he had not seen either Knight, Hampton, or Mallory take part in the attacks. R. 48-3 at 1145. Gregory Mallory, also on cross-examination, denied that either Mallory or Hampton was a member of the Disciples gang. R. 48-3 at 1107. However, because each defendant’s case was heard by a separate jury, Hampton’s jury did not hear this testimony. When the State was putting on its own witnesses, all three juries were present in the courtroom at the same time. But as counsel for each defendant took turns cross-examining the State’s witnesses, and later as each defendant put on his own evidence, the juries were rotated in and out of the courtroom such that each jury only heard one defendant’s case. Hampton’s jury thus was not present in the courtroom when Mallory’s witnesses testified. Hampton’s defense case was limited to one witness. Detective Craig Cegielski testified that Powell, to his knowledge, had never picked Hampton out of a line-up. R. 48-3 at 1087. In his opening statement, Hampton’s attorney, Rodgon, made two promises: first, that Hampton would testify that he was present at the concert and had seen what happened but had not participated in the attack (R. 48-2 at 543), and second, that the evidence would show that Hampton was neither a member of, nor involved with, any gang (id. at 544). Neither promise was kept. Hampton did not testify, and his jury heard no evidence that he had lacked involvement with a gang. The theme that Rodgon sounded in closing argument was one that he focused on exclusively throughout the trial — the weakness of the government’s case against Hampton. Rodgon challenged both Powell’s credibility and Heinrichs’: Rodgon noted that Powell claimed to have identified Hampton in a line-up but that the evidence revealed he had not done so; and Heinrichs, despite his position as a law enforcement officer, had not come forward as a witness until the police contacted him more than a week after the assaults, and he had identified Hampton only after he had seen a news report featuring a photograph of Hampton. Rodgon also questioned the ability of Martha N. and Denise M. to identify Hampton as one of their attackers, noting that they had only gotten brief glimpses of the assailant under stressful conditions. Rodgon explained neither Hampton’s failure to testify nor the lack of evidence that Hampton was uninvolved in a gang; he simply noted that Hampton was not obliged to put on a case. During jury deliberations, Hampton’s jury sent four notes to the judge. One of these indicated that the jury had arrived at a verdict as to five of the nine charges against Hampton but was deadlocked as to the four other charges. R. 62 at 189. Ultimately, the jury acquitted Hampton of the attempted rape of Martha N. (R. 62 at 193) but convicted him of deviate sexual assault, the attempted rape of Denise, aggravated battery, and robbery (R. 62 at 194-201). Knight was convicted on all charges. Mallory was acquitted of certain charges and granted a mistrial as to the remaining charges, as to which his jury could not render a verdict. He was acquitted of the remaining charges at a second trial. Judge Strayhorn ordered Hampton to serve a prison term of sixty years. R. 62 at 214; R. 48-6 at 58. The most serious of his offenses, deviate sexual assault, was normally punishable by a maximum of thirty years. However, that maximum was doubled to sixty years upon a finding that the assault was accompanied by exceptionally brutal or heinous behavior indicative of wanton cruelty. Judge Stray-horn determined that Hampton’s use of a foreign object to assault Denise M. met this condition. He remarked: It is probably the most ag[g]rievously cruel, wanton, depraved, brutal, [heinous], animalistic activity that I have run into in some thirty five years in the practice of law as a prosecutor, as a defense counsel and as a Judge. I’ve never run into a situation involving the [heinous] type facts that evolved in this case and that were shown to exist in this case and Mr. Hampton was actively involved to take a foreign object and to attempt to force it into the vagina of a woman being held prostrate on the ground, people on each arm and on each leg. That’s animalistic. That’s depraved. That’s cruel. That’s doing great harm and I can’t allow it to pass and I will not allow it to pass unnoticed. R. 48-8 at 37. He was not imposing the sentence for the purpose of rehabilitation, Judge Strayhorn explained. “It is purely and simply for punishment for ... the most cruel, wanton, brutal, [heinous,] depraved, animalistic act that I have ever seen committed on a human being.” R. 48-8 at 38. The judge ordered Hampton to serve concurrent, lesser terms on the other charges. R. 62 at 214; R. 48-6 at 58. On direct review, the Illinois appellate court affirmed Hampton’s conviction and sentence. People v. Knight, 139 Ill.App.3d 188, 93 Ill.Dec. 521, 486 N.E.2d 1356 (1985). The Illinois Supreme Court, as well as the United States Supreme Court, both declined to hear the case. Knight v. Illinois, 480 U.S. 905, 107 S.Ct. 1346, 94 L.Ed.2d 518 (1987). In 1990, Hampton filed a petition for postconviction relief in state court. Through counsel, he filed a supplemental petition after the Cook County public defender’s office was appointed to represent him. R. 48-5 at 108 et seq. In his supplemental petition, Hampton asserted that Rodgon had been ineffective for failing to investigate and interview exculpatory occurrence and character witnesses (R. 48-5 at 112-13, 117-19), for failing to have Hampton testify in his own defense, and for failing to present evidence that Hampton was not a gang member as Rodgon had promised in his opening statement (R. 48-5 at 125-27). (Hampton’s petition included other claims not relevant here.) Hampton submitted an affidavit in support of the petition in which he averred, inter alia, that he had given Rodgon the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of Gregory Mallory, Clinton Williams, and Ronnie Garner, and he had told Rodgon that they would confirm that he had not participated in the attacks. R. 48-5 at 168 ¶ 12. Williams and Garner signed affidavits indicating that Hampton was not a gang member, that they had attended the concert with him, and that Hampton was not involved in the attacks R. 48-5 at 180-SI 115 (Williams); id. at 182-83 ¶ 5 (Garner). They also stated that Rodgon had never contacted them. R. 48-5 at 180 ¶ 4 (Williams); id. at 182 ¶ 4 (Garner). Hampton’s affidavit also indicated that he would have given Rodgon the names of potential character witnesses if Rodgon had asked him (R. 48-5 at 169 ¶ 15); and several of his friends and family members submitted affidavits averring, among other things, that Hampton was not a gang member (R. 48-5 at 184 ¶ 5g; id. at 187 ¶ 6b; id. at 189 ¶ 5h, i; id. at 191 ¶ 5d; id. at 193 ¶ 5d). Hampton’s supplemental petition ultimately was assigned to Circuit Judge Colleen McSweeney Moore. On the State’s motion, Judge Moore summarily dismissed the bulk of Hampton’s petition, including his ineffectiveness claim. She determined that an evidentiary hearing was warranted on Hampton’s claim that he had been denied the right to testify on his own behalf. R. 48-7 at C38. But she concluded that no such hearing was warranted as to his allegations of ineffectiveness. The judge thought the ineffectiveness claim meritless in part because Hampton could not show that the outcome of his trial might have been different had Rodgon taken the steps that Hampton alleged he had neglected to take. R. 48-7 at C34, C36. In the judge’s view, Hampton’s postconviction counsel was attempting to substitute his own strategic judgment, informed by hindsight, for that of Rodgon. Id. at C34-35. Judge Moore went on to “find ... as a matter of fact from the record ... that Mr. Ro[dg]on’s trial tactics, his strategy in the manner in which he represented Patrick Hampton’s interest was not ineffective but rather was highly competent.” Id. at C35. She noted that Rodgon had moved to quash Hampton’s arrest and had obtained an evidentiary hearing on that motion, he had moved to suppress the identification of Hampton and also obtained a hearing on that request, he had pursued additional motions regarding discovery and other issues in the case, and during the trial he had effectively cross-examined the State’s witnesses. Id. at C32-34. The judge rejected the notion that Mallory’s acquittal supplied reason to believe that Hampton too might have been acquitted had Rodgon looked for the types of witnesses that Mallory’s counsel had presented. “[T]he evidence with regard to Mr. Mallory was so much weaker than the evidence with regard to Patrick Hampton,” she reasoned. Id. at C35. In Hampton’s case, a security guard as well as the victims of the assault were able to identify Hampton; the case against Mallory, by contrast, rested solely on the testimony of a single victim (Denise M.). See id. A divided Illinois Appellate Court affirmed the dismissal of Hampton’s ineffectiveness claims, concluding that Hampton’s allegations did not satisfy either of the two criteria set forth in Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984)—objectively unreasonable performance by counsel and prejudice resulting therefrom. People v. Hampton, 296 Ill.App.3d 1065, 244 Ill.Dec. 876, 726 N.E.2d 1187 (1998) (unpublished) (hereinafter, “App.Ct.Order”). Hampton could not show prejudice, the court reasoned, given the “overwhelming” proof of his guilt — namely, the fact that two of the victims of the attack, along with the security guard, had identified him as one of the perpetrators. App.Ct. Order at 5. Nor could Hampton establish that Rodgon’s performance as his attorney was objectively unreasonable. The decision whether to present a witness, the court stated, is a matter of strategy and “cannot support a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel.” Id. at 6. The court noted that an attorney is only obliged to make a reasonable investigation or to make a reasonable decision that renders particular investigations unnecessary. Id. Here, Rodgon knew that Hampton had attended the concert along with several other defendants and that he had been positively identified as one of the perpetrators by two victims and the guard. Against that backdrop, the court believed, Rodgon reasonably could have concluded that pursuing witnesses who would simply have confirmed that Hampton was present at the scene of the crime and linked to the other perpetrators of the offense posed as much of a detriment as a benefit to Hampton’s defense: The testimony of these other witnesses would have been redundant and only serve[d] to emphasize the fact that defendant went to the concert with the perpetrators, was present during the assault, and left with the perpetrators. It was not unreasonable for defense counsel to find this troubling. Indeed, it was defense counsel’s assessment that defendant faced a probability of “guilt by association.” Id. 7. Thus, “[a]pplying a heavy measure of deference to defense counsel’s judgment,” the court concluded that Rodgon made a reasonable decision not to interview the witnesses that Hampton had named. Id. As for Rodgon’s failure to fulfill the promise that Hampton would testify in his own defense, the court noted that Rodgon, at the time he made this statement, believed that Hampton would take the stand. Id. at 8. Subsequently, however, he discussed with Hampton the problem of guilt by association, and he also became concerned that Hampton might not be able to withstand the rigors of cross-examination. Id. In the end, Rodgon had advised Hampton that the choice whether or not to testify was his to make, and Hampton had decided not to testify. Id. The court viewed this as a change in trial strategy that could not support a claim of ineffectiveness. Id. Judge Sheila O’Brien dissented, reasoning that Hampton should have had the same opportunity that the State had to present occurrence witnesses: This crime occurred in a large area, with hundreds of people present. Defendant could have been present in the area and not have participated in the events and these occurrence witnesses could have corroborative information. These allegations make a substantial showing of a violation of defendant’s constitutional rights. Id. at 21. The Illinois Supreme Court subsequently denied Hampton’s petition for leave to appeal. People v. Hampton, No. 85803, 179 Ill.2d 599, 235 Ill.Dec. 570, 705 N.E.2d 443 (Ill. Oct.6, 1998) (unpublished). Having exhausted his state court remedies, Hampton filed a pro se petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the district court. The court appointed counsel to represent Hampton, and his attorneys subsequently filed an amended petition which, in relevant part, re-asserted Hampton’s claim of ineffectiveness. R. 27. Over the State’s objection, the district court conducted an evidentiary hearing to explore Rodgon’s failure to investigate exculpatory witnesses. Hampton testified at that hearing that during the nine-month period that he was incarcerated in advance of trial, Rodgon had met with him at the jail on only one occasion, for about thirty to forty-five minutes. R. 59-1 at 10, 13. During this meeting, which took place shortly after Hampton was arraigned in January 1982, Hampton told Rodgon that he had attended the concert with Ronnie Garner, Clinton Williams, and Gregory Mallory, and that all three could verify that he was not involved in the attacks and that he was not a gang member. Id. at 13-14. All three lived in the same building as Hampton, and they had grown up together. Id. at 14. Hampton gave Rodgon their contact information. Id. He also pointed out Williams and Gregory Mallory to Rodgon at subsequent court proceedings that they attended. Id. at 16. Hampton assumed that Rodgon would contact them and call them to testify at trial. Id. at 14, 16, 17. When Rodgon rested the defense case without calling these witnesses, Hampton asked him why he had not done so and Rodgon told him not to worry about the matter. Id. at 18. Rodgon testified that he believed the State’s case against Hampton was weak: there was no physical evidence implicating Hampton in the attacks; it was purely an identification case. R. 59-1 at 89. Hampton had not given him any information about potential defense witnesses, and for that reason Rodgon had not interviewed any such individuals. Id. at 99-100. Rodgon knew that Hampton lived in the Robert Taylor Homes and that “numerous people from there” had attended the concert. Id. at 91. However, he did not know who these individuals were. Had Hampton given him the names of potential occurrence witnesses, Rodgon testified, he would have followed through and spoken to such witnesses. Id. at 116. Rodgon did not visit the Robert Taylor Homes in an effort to identify potential witnesses, nor did he have an investigator do so. Id. at 100-02. With two immaterial exceptions, Rodgon’s case file contained no notes reflecting interviews with potential witnesses, although he agreed that such notes would have been in the file. Id. at 95-99, 151-52. In a 1987 letter to the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (“ARDC”) responding to a complaint Hampton had filed about his performance, Rodgon had indicated that he did speak with Hampton about possible witnesses. Prior to trial I did talk to [Hampton] concerning witnesses that may or may not be called on his behalf. As I recall he told me at that time that he was with people who he had left the Amphitheatre with on a bus. Most of these people were later arrested and charged with the crime and plead[ed] guilty. I did not think it appropriate for me to put on witnesses who had plead[ed] guilty to the crime to say that they were with Mr. Hampton at the time but that he did not participate in the crime. R. 58 Petitioner’s Ex. ID at 3. When asked about the letter at the evidentiary hearing, Rodgon still maintained that Hampton had not given him the names of potential occurrence witnesses. Had Hampton done so, Rodgon testified, he would have sent someone to speak with them. R. 59-1 at 121. Rodgon indicated that he did not contact co-defendant Ronnie Garner because when defendants plead guilty (as he knew Garner had), they typically incriminate not only themselves but their co-defendants. Id. at 128-24. He had not spoken with any of the other defendants who pleaded guilty for the same reason; Rodgon did not think it good strategy to put people who had pleaded guilty on the witness stand. Id. at 125. He acknowledged, however (at first reluctantly), that one cannot assess the credibility of a prospective witness without first talking to him or her. Id. at 147. Harold Winston, Hampton’s postconviction attorney, also testified at the hearing before Judge Kennelly. Winston recalled that after obtaining Rodgon’s trial file and reviewing the contents, he asked Rodgon about the lack of any notes from interviews with Hampton or other witnesses. Rodgon told Winston that he had given him all that he had. R. 59-1 at 32. Winston also indicated that in the course of preparing Hampton’s supplemental post-conviction petition, he had spoken with Gregory Hubbard. Although Hubbard had given him helpful information, he had ultimately refused to sign an affidavit in support of Hampton’s petition. Id. at 54. W. Michael Fay had represented Ronald Mallory at the trial. He testified before Judge Kennelly that he went to the Robert Taylor Homes along with two assistant public defenders who were representing Ricky Knight to speak with other people who had attended the concert and had witnessed the attacks. R. 59-1 at 68-70. Fay did not recall, however, whether the occurrence witnesses he called to testify in Mallory’s defense were among the people he spoke to at the Robert Taylor Homes. Id. at 71. Fay was confident that, pursuant to Circuit Court rules, he would have given Rodgon a copy of Mallory’s witness list. Id. at 73. Gregory Hubbard was among the witnesses included on that list. Id. Fay also recalled that he spoke with Rodgon regularly about the case as they encountered one another in the hallways of the Criminal Courts building. Id. at 79. Having heard both Hampton and Rod-gon testify, Judge Kennelly credited Hampton’s testimony in relevant part. He found that Hampton had given Rodgon the names of potential witnesses but that Rodgon had failed to follow up with these witnesses. 2001 WL 1518533, at *7-*8. Judge Kennelly thought that a decision by Rodgon not to pursue thése witnesses might have been strategically justified vis á vis Garner, who had pleaded guilty to charges arising out of the incident and who had not contested the government’s version of events, which implicated Hampton. Id. at *8, *16 n. 7. However, the failure to investigate would not have been justified as to Mallory and Williams. Id. at *8, *16-*17. Not having interviewed those two individuals, Rodgon had no strategic basis for dismissing them as prospective witnesses. Id. at *8. Judge Kennelly further observed that Rodgon admitted knowing that a group of people who lived at the same housing project as Hampton had attended the concert, and that some of those individuals might have witnessed the attacks. Id. at *8. But Rodgon had made no effort to locate such individuals. Id. Nor was there any indication that Rodgon had spoken with the attorneys representing Hampton’s co-defendants about their witnesses. Id. At least one of those witnesses — Gregory Hubbard — could have exculpated Hampton. Id. Finally, Rodgon had never asked Hampton for the names of witnesses who could verify that he was not in a gang, nor had he made any other efforts to locate such witnesses. Id. Ronnie Garner also testified at the evi-dentiary hearing before Judge Kennelly. At the time of the concert, Garner had known Hampton for ten years and was his friend. According to Garner, Hampton was not a gang member. Garner had attended the concert along with Ronnie Jackson, Sandelle Poole, Ezra Garner (Ronnie’s brother), and Hampton; Hampton also left the concert with them. During the concert, Hampton was seated near Ronnie Garner and was within his sight at all times. Garner testified that Hampton was not part of the crowd that attacked the three Latinos. Garner said that no one had ever asked him what he knew about Hampton’s involvement in the attacks, nor had anyone asked him to testify on Hampton’s behalf. He would have testified in Hampton’s defense had he been asked. Garner himself had been charged with participating in the attacks, however; and he ultimately had pleaded guilty (against his lawyer’s advice) and was sentenced to the six months he had already served in pretrial detention. On the witness stand before Judge Kennelly, Garner insisted that he had not, in fact, participated in the attacks, but had elected to plead guilty in order to avoid a potentially much longer term had he been tried and convicted. And although he had not contested the version of events that the prosecutor recited at the change of plea hearing — a version that had implicated Garner and Hampton both — neither had he endorsed it as accurate. R. 57-8 at 21-27; see R. 58, Petitioner’s Ex. 11 at 31-32 (State proffers factual basis for plea and Judge Strayhorn finds it sufficient to accept plea but Garner not asked to endorse it); compare id. at 7 (co-defendant Ford asked to stipulate to State’s proffer). Judge Kennelly found Garner’s testimony to be credible. 2001 WL 1518533, at *9. Gregory Mallory, who had been a next-door neighbor and friend of Hampton’s for about nine years at the time of the concert, also testified. Gregory had attended the concert, was seated about five to ten feet from Hampton, and said that Hampton was not near the attacking crowd. As noted above, Gregory’s brother Ronald Mallory was tried along with Hampton, and Gregory had testified in Ronald’s (successful) defense. Although Gregory said that he would have testified on Hampton’s behalf, Hampton’s attorney had never contacted him. Gregory had begun using heroin in 1989, and was still addicted to the narcotic when the evidentiary hearing took place in 2001. He was convicted of felony theft in 1981, and for heroin possession in 1994. Although Gregory did not believe that his longtime abuse of heroin had affected his memory, he answered a number of the questions put to him with answers like “okay” and “I guess so,” and he was unable to recall certain details about the concert (e.g., precisely what row he sat in) and about the trial (including the fact that it involved three juries). But Gregory had not been a heroin user at the time of the concert or at the time of Hampton’s trial. And although Judge Kennelly characterized Mallory’s memory as imperfect, he found his testimony credible nonetheless. Unsurprisingly, given the passage of time and the effects of heroin use, [Gregory Mallory’s] memory of the incident has faded a bit. But the issue is not whether he would make a good witness if Hampton’s trial were held today, but what effect his testimony might have had at the 1982 trial. The Court finds that Mallory would have made an effective defense witness at that trial. 2001 WL 1518533, at *9. Clinton Williams died in July 1995, six years before the evidentiary hearing took place. He too had been- a friend of Hampton’s and had attended the concert. Williams was alive at the time that Hampton had petitioned for postconviction relief in state court and had signed an affidavit in support of that petition indicating that Hampton had not participated in the attacks. R. 48-5 at 180-81. Judge Kennelly discerned no reason to believe that Williams would not have been a credible witness on Hampton’s behalf. 2001 WL 1518533, at *9. The judge pointed out that there was no evidence linking Williams to the group that had perpetrated the attacks. Id. Before reaching the merits of Hampton’s failure-to-investigate claim, the district judge determined that there were no procedural obstacles that precluded either the evidentiary hearing he had convened or consideration of the merits of-the claim. The court first concluded that Hampton had fairly presented the claim in state court and thus had exhausted his state court remedies with respect to that claim. See 28 U.S.C. § 2254(b)(1), (c); O’Sullivan v. Boerckel, 526 U.S. 838, 844-45, 119 S.Ct. 1728; 1732, 144 L.Ed.2d 1 (1999); Picard v. Connor, 404 U.S. 270, 275-76, 92 S.Ct. 509, 512, 30 L.Ed.2d 438 (1971). This was so, in the court’s view, notwithstanding Hampton’s failure to submit an affidavit from Gregory Mallory in support of his postcon-viction petition. 2001 WL 1518533, at *10. As the court observed, a claim advanced in a federal habeas petition may be said to have been fairly presented to the state courts so long as that claim is fundamentally the same claim that the petitioner asked the state courts to resolve. Id. at *10, citing Boyko v. Parke, 259 F.3d 781, 789 (7th Cir.2001). This was true of Hampton’s ineffectiveness claim, the judge reasoned. Although Hampton had not tendered an affidavit from Gregory Mallory to substantiate the ineffectiveness claim (as he had from Williams and Gamer), Hampton had, in his own affidavit, averred that Gregory’s name was among those he had given to his attorney as a witness, and Hampton had argued in his petition that Rodgon should have contacted and interviewed Gregory. Under these circumstances, Hampton’s federal claim was not materially different from the one Hampton had pursued in state court. 2001 WL 1518533, at *10. Nor did Hampton’s failure to submit an affidavit from Gregory constitute a procedural default that barred federal consideration of the ineffectiveness claim. Id. at *11; see Harris v. Reed, 489 U.S. 255, 261-62, 109 S.Ct. 1038, 1042, 103 L.Ed.2d 308 (1989). Although the Illinois Appellate Court had noted the absence of an affidavit from Gregory in its discussion of the claim, it had nonetheless addressed the merits of the claim in its entirety and without relying on the procedural flaw of the missing affidavit. Because the state court chose to ignore this default, Judge Kennelly reasoned, it posed no obstacle to federal consideration of the ineffectiveness claim. 2001 WL 1518533, at *11. Next, the judge found that a federal statutory restriction on evidentiary hearings in habeas proceedings did not foreclose the court from hearing testimony in support of Hampton’s ineffectiveness claim. Id. at *12-*14. Subject to narrow exceptions, 28 U.S.C. § 2254(e)(2), added by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (“AEDPA”), forbids a district court from holding an evidentiary hearing on a habeas claim if the petitioner failed to develop the factual basis of that claim in state court. As the district court acknowledged, we have held that this limitation applies not just to an evidentiary hearing, but to any means used in lieu of such a hearing to expand the record in order to introduce new factual information. 2001 WL 1518533, at *12, citing Boyko, 259 F.3d at 790. The State argued that section 2254(e)(2) constrained the court’s ability not only to convene an evidentiary hearing, but also its ability to consider the affidavit from Gregory Mallory that Hampton had submitted in support of his habeas petition, given that Hampton had not submitted an affidavit from Gregory in support of his postconviction petition in state court. But this provision forecloses an expansion of the record only if the habeas petitioner’s failure to develop the record appropriately in state court was due to the petitioner’s lack of diligence or some larger fault attributable to the petitioner or his counsel. See Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 420, 432, 120 S.Ct. 1479, 1488, 146 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000); see also Matheney v. Anderson, 253 F.3d 1025, 1039 (7th Cir.2001) (quoting Burris v. Parke, 116 F.3d 256, 258-59 (7th Cir.1997), cert. denied, 522 U.S. 990, 118 S.Ct. 462, 139 L.Ed.2d 395 (1997)), cert. denied, 535 U.S. 1030, 122 S.Ct. 1635 (2002). In the district court’s view, there was no evidence that Hampton had been anything but diligent in pursuing his ineffectiveness claim in state court. 2001 WL 1518533, at *12. Although the materials in support of Hampton’s post-conviction petition did not include an affidavit from Gregory, Hampton had identified Gregory in his own affidavit, averring that he had given Gregory’s name and contact information to Rodgon as an eyewitness who might testify on his behalf. The court also noted that Hampton had asked the lower state court to conduct an evidentiary hearing but that the State had opposed a hearing and the state court had refused to conduct one. Had a hearing been held, the court theorized, “it is overwhelmingly likely that [Gregory] Mallory would have been called to testify.” Id. at *12. Consequently, although the state court record lacked an affidavit from Gregory that outlined what his testimony on Hampton’s behalf might have been (had Rodgon pursued him as a witness), that omission could not be ascribed to a lack of diligence on Hampton’s part. “Having been rebuffed at the prosecution’s request in his attempt to make a complete record in state court, Hampton cannot be faulted for his failure to do so or accused of a lack of diligence.” Id. Having thus determined that the AED-PA posed no bar to taking additional evidence on Hampton’s claim, the court turned to pre-AEDPA standards. See Matheney, 253 F.3d at 1039. Under those rules, an evidentiary hearing on a habeas petitioner’s claim is required if the petitioner has alleged facts that would entitle him to relief and the state courts, for reasons beyond his control, did not consider his claim in a full and fair hearing. See Townsend v. Sain, 372 U.S. 293, 312-13, 83 S.Ct. 745, 757, 9 L.Ed.2d 770 (1963), overruled on other grounds by Keeney v. Tamayo-Reyes, 504 U.S. 1, 112 S.Ct. 1715, 118 L.Ed.2d 318 (1992); Wright v. Gram- ley, 125 F.3d 1038, 1044 (7th Cir.1997). A full and fair hearing is one that afforded the petitioner a complete opportunity to present the facts relevant to his constitutional claim. See Matheney, 253 F.3d at 1039; Spreitzer v. Peters, 114 F.3d 1435, 1456 & n. 9 (7th Cir.1997), disposition clarified, 127 F.3d 551 (7th Cir.1997), cert. denied, 522 U.S. 1120, 118 S.Ct. 1060, 140 L.Ed.2d 121 (1998). Judge Kennelly found that the Illinois post-conviction court, when it dismissed the' relevant portion of Hampton’s postconviction petition without a hearing, had deprived Hampton of this opportunity: The state court did not permit Hampton to explore his trial counsel’s reasons — if he had any — for failing to interview and call the witnesses whose names Hampton had given him. Nor did it permit him to address the issue of prejudice, which would have required consideration of the effect of [those witnesses’] testimony. 2001 WL 1518533, at *13. The judge pointed out that in both Matheney and Bruce v. United States, 256 F.3d 592, 600 (7th Cir.2001), we had concluded that an evidentiary hearing was necessary in order to evaluate the ineffectiveness claims asserted in those cases. Judge Kennelly believed that this was true here as well. Testimony from Hampton’s counsel as well as Hampton’s proposed witnesses would enable the court to assess the adequacy of Rodgon’s representation of Hampton and to determine whether Hampton was prejudiced by Rodgon’s failure to interview (and summon to testify) Hampton’s witnesses. 2001 WL 1518533, at *13. The Illinois Appellate Court had said that Rodgon’s failure to .follow up with Hampton’s occurrence witnesses was based on a strategic decision to avoid the specter of guilt by association that such witnesses might have raised or enhanced (App.Ct. Order at 7); but the district court found to the contrary. Although section 2254(e)(1) provides that state court findings of fact are owed a presumption of correctness, no such presumption was warranted here, in the district court’s view. 2001 WL 1518533, at *15. The state court’s finding was “entirely speculative,” with no basis in the record before the state courts. Id. The only evidence that Rodgon was concerned about guilt by association came from a limited hearing that the state trial court had conducted on Hampton’s separate claim regarding Rodgon’s failure to have Hampton himself testify. Id.; see n. 4, supra; R.48-7 at D32-33. Rodgon’s rationale for not calling Hampton to the witness stand could not be “transmogrified” into an explanation for his failure to conduct an adequate pretrial investigation, the district court reasoned. 2001 WL 1518533, at *15. Moreover, even if the appellate court’s characterization of Rodgon’s conduct as “strategic” were presumed correct, Hampton had succeeded in rebutting that presumption by clear and convincing evidence. Id.; see § 2254(e)(1). The court found that Rodgon had no reason not to follow up on the eyewitness information that Hampton had given him or not to make his own effort to identify other occurrence witnesses. Rodgon had conceded on the witness stand that an attorney cannot decide whether to call a witness who is not also a co-defendant without first interviewing that witness, barring some other external factor known to the attorney (such as a significant felony record or the immateriality of the witness’s testimony) that detracts from the value of that witness’s possible testimony. 2001 WL 1518533, at *15. The district court also viewed the appellate court’s strategy determination as either contrary to or an unreasonable application of Stricklands observation that strategic choices based on something less than a complete investigation are reasonable to the extent that reasonable professional judgment would support limits on that investigation. Id. at *16; see Strickland v. Washington, supra, 466 U.S. at 690-91, 104 S.Ct. at 2066. Here, there was no evidence of any judgment at all on Rodgon’s part, and it was not the court’s duty to fill that void with its own judgment. 2001 WL 1518533, at *16. Where the prosecution relies heavily on eyewitness testimony that might be rebutted by other eyewitnesses, the district court emphasized, the attorney’s duty to investigate such witnesses is critical. Id. In this case, Rodgon had cross-examined the State’s witnesses and exposed the weaknesses in their identifications of Hampton, but he made no effort to determine whether Hampton had more of a defense than that. Id. Cases including Washington v. Smith, 219 F.3d 620, 631-32 (7th Cir.2000); Williams v. Washington, 59 F.3d 673, 681 (7th Cir.1995); Harris v. Reed, 894 F.2d 871, 878-79 (7th Cir.1990); and Sullivan v. Fairman, 819 F.2d 1382, 1389 (7th Cir.1987), support the notion that the failure to investigate exculpatory witnesses can amount to ineffective assistance of counsel. 2001 WL 1518533, at *17-* 18. Rodgon’s ineffectiveness was not limited to his failure to interview the eyewitnesses that Hampton had identified for him, but included his failure to make an effort of his own to locate other eyewitnesses. Id. at *18. The court noted that if Rodgon simply had paid attention to the witness lists of Hampton’s co-defendants, he would have found at least one witness (Gregory Hubbard) who could have exonerated Hampton. Id. The district court believed that Rodgon was also ineffective for failing to look for witnesses who could confirm that Hampton was not a gang member. Id. at *18-*19. The Illinois Appellate Court had written this omission off as a failure to call witnesses who might have testified that Hampton was a “decent person.” App.Ct. Order at 16. But Hampton’s supplemental postconviction petition, along with the affidavits he had submitted in support of that petition, made clear that the gist of such witnesses’ testimony was not simply that Hampton was of good character, but that he was not a gang member. 2001 WL 1518533, at *19. Gang affiliation was made relevant by the strong overtones of gang activity that Powell had observed in the group of men he saw marching toward the stage of the theater (the chanting of gang slogans and hand signals). The unfulfilled promise that Rodgon made in his opening statement — that the jury would hear evidence that Hampton was not involved in a gang — revealed that Rodgon was aware of the importance of this issue. Id. at *18. Proof that Hampton had no gang connections would have tended to undercut testimony that he was part of the group that attacked the three victims. Id. at *19. Yet Rodgon had never so much as asked Hampton for the names of individuals who could attest to his lack of gang involvement. Id. The Illinois Appellate Court had also held that even if Rodgon had rendered ineffective assistance, Hampton could not demonstrate that he was prejudiced by his attorney’s performance. App.Ct. Order at 5. “In light of the overwhelming evidence of defendant’s guilt, ie., two of the victims and a security guard identified defendant, defendant cannot establish that but for his defense counsel’s performance the outcome of his trial would have been different.” Id. The district court concluded that this one-sentence disposition of the prejudice prong of the ineffectiveness inquiry amounted to an unreasonable application of Strickland. In the district court’s view, the State’s case against Hampton was “far from unassailable.” 2001 WL 1518538, at *19. Heinrichs, the security guard, conceded that on the night of the attacks he had only seen the assailant he later identified as Hampton for three or four seconds, and he had not picked Hampton out of a lineup until after he had seen Hampton’s picture in a television news report. Id. Denise M. and Martha N. likewise had only gotten brief glimpses of Hampton and had been unable to describe him except as an African-American male for the police. Id. Hugo M. never identified Hampton notwithstanding the fact that he was at Denise M.’s side during the assault. Id. Each of the witnesses who identified Hampton had witnessed the assault “under extremely stressful .,. near-riot conditions.” Id. at *19. The fact that the jury acquitted Hampton of the attempted rape of Martha N. demonstrated the likelihood that the testimony of exculpatory occurrence and other witnesses might have produced a different outcome on the other charges. Id. at *20. Martha N. had identified Hampton as one of her attackers, and had done so under the same circumstances as the other two witnesses who identified Hampton. But in Martha N.’s case, the record had supplied a basis to challenge her identification — the written report indicating that Martha N. had picked from the line-up someone other than Hampton. Notwithstanding testimony from a detective that the written report was erroneous, the jury’s decision to acquit Hampton on this charge suggested to the district court that the jury had doubts about the strength of Martha N.’s identification. Id. This in turn indicated to the court that if the jury had been given reason to doubt the identifications by Denise M. and the guard beyond arguments about the circumstances under which they had seen the assailant, it was reasonably likely that the jury’s decision on the other charges might have been different as well. Id. Rodney Mallory’s acquittal on all charges supplied additional, “powerful evidence” that an adequate investigation into defense witnesses might well have produced a different result for Hampton. Id. at *20. Mallory’s attorney had put on the very type of eyewitness testimony that Rodgon had failed to pursue, including Rodney’s brother Gregory, whom Hampton had cited to Rodgon as an eyewitness. Id. Rodney Mallory was acquitted notwithstanding the testimony of Denise M. that he had attempted to place his penis in her mouth and the testimony of Keith Powell that Rodney was among the group of individuals who walked toward the stage of the Amphitheatre. Id. True, no security guard had identified Rodney. Id. Even so, the favorable outcome for Rodney Mallory persuaded the district court that it was reasonably probable that a defense founded in part upon exculpatory occurrence witnesses would have resulted in Hampton’s acquittal. Id. The district court found further that Rodgon’s failure to investigate and present witnesses to establish Hampton’s lack of gang affiliation, although not dispositive by itself, was also “highly prejudicial” to Hampton. Id. Gang affiliation was an aspect of the prosecution’s case that tended to buttress the witnesses’ identification of Hampton. Id. Sowing doubt about the notion that Hampton would have participated in gang-related activity thus would have given the jury reason to question the identification of Hampton. Id. Rodgon’s failure to keep the promise he made during opening that Hampton would testify in his own defense reinforced the district court’s conclusion that Rodgon’s representation of Hampton was ineffective. Id. at *21-*22. The Illinois Appellate Court had chalked up Hampton’s failure to testify to a change in trial strategy driven by Rodgon’s concern over the prospect of guilt by association. App.Ct. Order at 8. Had Hampton testified, he would have admitted that he was present at the scene of the crime and that he arrived and left with others implicated in the attacks. But if that prospect was what worried Rodgon, the district court noted, it was a possibility that was as apparent before trial as it was when the time came to decide whether Hampton would take the witness stand; there was no indication that anything relevant to the guilt-by-association concern had changed over the course of the trial. 2001 WL 1518533, at *21. Consequently, the district court believed, it was “foolhardy and objectively unreasonable for [Rodgon] to promise that Hampton would testify.” Id. The court acknowledged that an attorney’s failure to keep a promise made in an opening statement will rarely supply the basis for an ineffectiveness claim. Id. In this case, however, nothing occurred during the State’s case against Hampton that altered the pros and cons of Hampton taking the stand. Id. at *21-*22. True, had he testified, Hampton would have had to explain his presence at the scene of the crime, but, the court pointed out, Rodney Mallory had been able to do so successfully. Id. at *22. Under the circumstances, the court found it objectively unreasonable for Rodgon to make and then abandon the promise that Hampton would take the stand. Id. “The Appellate Court’s contrary conclusion, based on a finding that was without any support in the record, was an unreasonable application of Strickland.” Id. Rodgon’s failure to fulfill the promise, the district court went on, was also prejudicial to Hampton. Id. Hampton’s failure to take the stand as promised gave rise to a negative inference about what the content of his testimony might have been. Id. The court could not say that this alone likely affected the outcome of the trial. However, the decision not to keep the promise “significantly buttresse[d]” the court’s conclusion that Rodgon’s overall performance likely did influence the outcome. Id. Having concluded that Hampton was deprived of the effective assistance of counsel, Judge Kennelly granted his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. He ordered Hampton released from prison unless, within thirty days, the State announced its intent to retry Hampton. Id. at *25. The State appealed, and subsequently it asked the district court to stay its judgment. Hampton in turn asked the court to order his release pending appeal. By this time, Hampton had been incarcerated for twenty years, but even with credit for good time, he could not expect to be discharged from prison prior to January 2012. After weighing the equities, Judge Kennelly stayed the judgment to the extent of relieving the State, pending appeal, of the obligation to announce its intent to retry Hampton within thirty days. Hampton v. Leibach, 2001 WL 1618737, at *3 (N.D.Ill. Dec.18, 2001). The judge also ordered Hampton released from prison on bond pending appeal. Id. at *2-*3. Hampton’s release was conditioned on his sister’s willingness to execute a quitclaim deed on her home as security. Id: at *3. He also required Hampton to “live with his sister in her home, restrict his travel to the State of Illinois, make reasonable efforts to seek employment, and avoid contact with the victims of the offenses with which he was charged in state court.” Id. Although this court subsequently stayed Hampton’s release pending appeal, United States Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, acting as Circuit Justice, granted Hampton’s application to vacate that stay, and the full Court subsequently declined to overturn his order. On January 28, 2002, this court ordered Hampton released at such time as the district court’s conditions on his release were satisfied. II. A. Evidentiary Hearing The State’s initial contentions on appeal concern the district court’s decision to conduct an evidentiary hearing on Hampton’s ineffectiveness claim. The State does not quarrel with the lower court’s determination that Hampton fairly presented his failure-to-investigate claim to the state courts. See § 2254(b)(1), (c); Boyko, 259 F.3d at 788-89. But for three reasons, the State contends that the decision to hold a hearing on that claim was, either in part or in whole, erroneous: (1