Full opinion text
GIBBONS, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which GRIFFIN, J., joined, and WHITE, J., joined in part. WHITE, J. (pp. 500-01), delivered a separate opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part. OPINION JULIA SMITH GIBBONS, Circuit Judge. In 1991, Jose Trinidad Loza shot and killed four members of his pregnant girlfriend’s family. An Ohio jury convicted him of four counts of aggravated murder, and he was sentenced to death. Ohio state courts affirmed Loza’s convictions and sentences on direct appeal and denied him postconviction relief. Loza filed a habeas corpus petition in federal district court, which was denied. On appeal, Loza argues that he is entitled to habeas relief on seven grounds. We affirm the district court’s denial of Loza’s habeas petition. I. The Ohio Supreme Court described the facts and circumstances underlying Loza’s convictions as follows: On January 16, 1991, defendant-appellant, Jose Trinidad Loza, shot four members of the family of his girlfriend, Dorothy Jackson. The victims were shot in the head at close range while they slept in their home in Middletown, Ohio. Loza shot Jackson’s mother, Georgia Davis; her brother, Gary Mullins; and her two sisters, Cheryl (Mullins) Senteno and Jerri Luanna Jackson. Mullins died almost immediately from his wound; Davis and Senteno survived several hours before dying. Jerri Jackson, six months pregnant at the time of the shooting, died on January 31,1991. On the afternoon of January 16, 1991, Gary Hoertt observed an individual in a white Mazda pick-up truck with California plates loading trash into his dumpster at his shop in Middletown. Having had previous problems with the unauthorized use of his dumpster, Hoertt searched the dumpster for something with which to identify the individual. Hoertt found a letter in the dumpster signed by Loza with a return address in Butler County. Hoertt read the letter, the contents of which indicated that Loza was involved in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles and that he came to Ohio to avoid apprehension by the Los Ange-les police. After reading the letter, Hoertt called the Warren County Sheriff’s Department to report his discovery. Hoertt was informed that it would take some time before a deputy could respond. During that time, Hoertt was informed by an employee that the individual, later identified as Loza, and a female companion were seen in the vicinity of the nearby Greyhound bus station. Hoertt then called Middletown police detective Roger Enable. After Enable arrived at Hoertt’s shop and read the letter, Enable and Hoertt went to the dumpster, where they retrieved other items that Loza had discarded, which included: a knife; an empty box for a .25 caliber Raven automatic handgun; a receipt signed by a Judy A. Smith for the purchase of the handgun on January 15, 1991; a woman’s purse; a blank check on the account of Georgia L. Davis; a general money order made payable to Jose Loza; clothing; and some other personal items. As Hoertt and Enable were going through the items in Hoertt’s office, Hoertt saw Loza approach the dumpster. Enable went to his cruiser and requested his dispatcher to notify Warren County deputies that the individual had returned and that he was going to speak to him. Enable identified himself as a police officer, approached Loza with his gun in his hand, and instructed Loza to place his hands on the front of the car. Enable searched Loza and asked his name. At this time, Loza identified himself as “Jose Rodriguez.” Enable told Loza the reason he was being stopped was because of what he put in the dumpster. Loza responded “yes.” Enable said the letter indicated that Loza may have been involved in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles. Loza again responded “yes.” Enable then informed Loza that he was going to handcuff him and hold him until Warren County deputies arrived. Enable then went to locate the woman who had been seen with Loza earlier. Loza said that the woman’s name was Cynthia Rodriguez, that she was his wife, and that they were headed to California. Enable then went inside the bus station and approached Dorothy Jackson. He asked her name and she responded “Dorothy Jackson.” When asked, Jackson stated that Loza’s name was “Jose Rodriguez,” and that they were not married. Within a short time after Enable’s initial contact with Loza, Warren County deputies arrived. The deputies determined Jackson was under age and that she planned to travel to California with Loza. When asked, Jackson gave her mother’s telephone number to the deputies. Enable was unsuccessful in reaching Davis, Jackson’s mother, by phone. Detectives Enable and George Jeffery then went to Davis’s home at 1408 Fair-mont, but did not receive any response when they knocked at the door. A neighbor approached the detectives and said that she had been trying unsuccessfully all day to get someone from the house to respond. Because the police were unable to. determine if Jackson had permission to travel out of state, she was arrested for being an unruly minor and was taken to the Warren County Juvenile Detention Center. Loza was arrested for contributing to the delinquency or unruliness of a minor and was taken to the Warren County Justice Center. When the detectives began questioning Jackson at the juvenile detention center, she did not initially tell them of the murders. Shortly into the questioning, she began crying. She said she did not want to go to jail, and that Loza had killed her family. Jackson then told the detectives what she knew about the murders. Based upon Jackson’s statement, Detective Enable obtained a search warrant for the house at 1408 Fairmont. When the police entered the house, they discovered the victims. Enable and 'Jeffery then returned to the Warren County Justice Center and began questioning Loza. The detectives’ interview with Loza was videotaped. At the beginning of the interview, Loza waived his Miranda rights. Initially, Loza said that he and Jackson were traveling to California with her mother’s permission. The detectives told Loza they knew what had happened, and that it would be in his, Jackson’s and the unborn baby’s best interest if he just told the truth. About one hour into the interview, Loza confessed to the murders. Loza detailed the murders, including the order in which he shot the victims. Loza stated that Jackson was not in the house at the time of the murders, and that she did not know that he was going to kill her family members. The detectives asked Loza when he began thinking about murdering Jackson’s family members. Loza responded that he had been thinking about it since he had obtained the gun and particularly after Davis had threatened to have him arrested if he tried to leave the state with Jackson. Loza explained that he shot Davis because of her threats. When asked why he shot the others, he responded: “Enowing I had to do one, I had to do all. * * * Because if I only done one, they would have — they would have known it was me. If I would have done all of them, nobody would have found out.” State v. Loza, 71 Ohio St.3d 61, 641 N.E.2d 1082, 1091-92 (1994). In 1991, a jury convicted Loza of four counts of aggravated murder. It recommended that Loza be sentenced to death for the aggravated murders of Mullins, Senteno, and Jerri Jackson. It recommend that Loza be sentenced to thirty years’ to life imprisonment for the aggravated murder of Davis. The trial court accepted the jury’s recommendation. The Ohio Court of Appeals and the Ohio Supreme Court affirmed Loza’s convictions and sentences. State v. Loza, 71 Ohio St.3d 61, 641 N.E.2d 1082 (1994); State v. Loza, No. CA 91-11-198, 1993 WL 120028 (Ohio Ct.App. April 19, 1993). The Ohio Supreme Court denied Loza’s motion for reconsideration. State v. Loza, 71 Ohio St.3d 1437, 643 N.E.2d 142 (1994) (table decision). The Butler County Court of Common Pleas denied Loza’s petition for post-conviction relief, and the Ohio Court of Appeals affirmed. State v. Loza, No. CA 96-10-214, 1997 WL 634348 (Ohio Ct. App. Oct. 13, 1997). The Ohio Supreme Court declined discretionary review of Loza’s appeal, stating that it posed no substantial constitutional question. State v. Loza, 81 Ohio St.3d 1429, 689 N.E.2d 49 (1998) (table decision). Loza filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in federal district court, asserting thirty-four grounds for relief. The district court dismissed several of Loza’s claims as procedurally defaulted. It denied Loza’s remaining claims and dismissed the action. The district court certified fourteen issues for appeal, and this court granted a certificate of appealability on one additional issue. Loza raises seven of these issues on appeal. Loza abandoned the issues that he failed to raise, and we do not consider them. Post v. Bradshaw, 621 F.3d 406, 413-14 (6th Cir.2010). II. In an appeal of a § 2254 habeas action, we review the district court’s legal conclusions de novo. Cristini v. McKee, 526 F.3d 888, 897 (6th Cir.2008). “ ‘[W]here the district court has made factual determinations based on its review of trial transcripts and other court records,’ ” we also review the district court’s factual conclusions de novo. Dando v. Yukins, 461 F.3d 791, 796 (6th Cir.2006) (quoting Mackey v. Russell, 148 Fed.Appx. 355, 359 (6th Cir.2005)). We review the decision of “the last state court to issue a reasoned opinion on the issue[s]” raised in a habeas petition. Joseph v. Coyle, 469 F.3d 441, 450 (6th Cir.2006); see also Ylst v. Nunnemaker, 501 U.S. 797, 803, 111 S.Ct. 2590, 115 L.Ed.2d 706 (1991) (“Where there has been one reasoned state judgment rejecting a federal claim, later unexplained orders upholding that judgment or rejecting the same claim [are presumed to] rest upon the same ground.”). Loza filed his petition after the effective date of the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (“AEDPA”). As a result, AEDPA governs our review. Under § 2254(d): An application for a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of a person in custody pursuant to the judgment of a State court shall not be granted with respect to any claim that was adjudicated on the merits in State court proceedings unless the adjudication of the claim— (1) resulted in a decision that was contrary to, or involved an unreasonable application of, clearly established Federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court of the United States; or (2) resulted in a decision that was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence presented in the State court proceeding. The “contrary to” and “unreasonable application” clauses of § 2254(d)(1) have independent meaning. Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362, 405, 120 S.Ct. 1495, 146 L.Ed.2d 389 (2000). A state court’s decision is “contrary to” clearly established federal law if it “applies a rule that contradicts the governing law set forth in [Supreme Court] cases” or if it “confronts a set of facts that are materially indistinguishable from a decision of [the Supreme] Court and nevertheless arrives at a result different from [this] precedent.” Id. at 405-06, 120 S.Ct. 1495. A state court’s decision is an “unreasonable application” of clearly established federal law if it “correctly identifies the governing legal rule but applies it unreasonably to the facts of a particular prisoner’s case.” Id. at 407-08, 120 S.Ct. 1495. “The ‘unreasonable application’ clause requires the state court decision to be more than incorrect or erroneous.” Lockyer v. Andrade, 538 U.S. 63, 75, 123 S.Ct. 1166, 155 L.Ed.2d 144 (2003). “The state court’s application of clearly established law must be objectively unreasonable.” Id. The phrase “clearly established Federal law” in § 2254(d)(1) “refers to the holdings, as opposed to the dicta, of [the Supreme] Court’s decisions as of the time of the relevant state-court decision.” Williams, 529 U.S. at 412, 120 S.Ct. 1495. A state court’s factual determination is not “unreasonable” within the meaning of § 2254(d)(2) “merely because the federal habeas court would have reached a different conclusion in the first instance.” Wood v. Allen, 558 U.S. 290, 130 S.Ct. 841, 849, 175 L.Ed.2d 738 (2010). Even if “[reasonable minds reviewing the record” might disagree about a factual finding, “on habeas review that does not suffice to supersede” the state court’s determination. Rice v. Collins, 546 U.S. 333, 341-42, 126 S.Ct. 969, 163 L.Ed.2d 824 (2006). III. Loza argues that the Ohio Supreme Court unreasonably applied clearly established federal law when it held that the trial court properly refused to suppress statements that Loza made to Detective Enable shortly after Enable encountered Loza at Hoertt’s trash bin on the day of his arrest. On the day of Loza’s arrest, Hoertt observed Loza putting items in the trash bin at Hoertt’s shop. Hoertt searched the trash bin and found a letter in which the writer stated that he was involved in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles. Hoertt contacted Enable, who arrived and read the letter. A short time later, the men saw Loza return to the trash bin. At the suppression hearing before the trial court, Enable explained what happened next: I went to my cruiser, my unmarked police car. I told the desk, my dispatcher, that the individual who had placed this stuff in the dumpster had returned to the dumpster, and was still in the area. I told them I was going to approach him, notify Warren County to respond immediately if possible. As I approached Mr. Loza, he turned to face my car. He had on a, I believe, a blue and gray jacket. It appeared to me as though he was reaching for his pocket. I got out of the car with my service gun to my side. I advised him I was a police officer. I did display a badge. I was not wearing a jacket. My badge was on my belt. I advised him to place his hands on the top—on the hood of the car, which he did. I then put my gun away, padded him down, and advised him that the reason why I wanted to speak with him was because of the stuff he put in the dumpster. I asked him his name, and he told me it was Jose Rodriguez. At that point, I told him Warren County Sheriffs Department was on the way—they wanted to speak with him in reference to the letter. I also, at that point, handcuffed him, placed him in the back of my car, told him it would be approximately ten minutes before they arrived. At that time I asked him where his friend was, or female companion. He stated she was in the bus station. Loza told Enable that Jackson’s name was Cynthia Rodriguez. Enable further explained: [W]hen I first got up and started talking to him, I said, “The reason I’m stopping is because of what you put in the dumpster.” And he said, “Yes.” And I said, This letter there indicates that you may have been involved in a shooting in Los Angeles. Again he said, “Yes.” At that point I advised him that I was going to handcuff him, and hold him until Warren County arrived. Prior to trial, Loza moved to suppress his statements to Enable. Loza argued that Enable’s seizure of Loza violated the Fourth Amendment. He also argued that Enable failed to provide him with warnings pursuant to Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), prior to questioning him, in violation of his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. The trial court denied Loza’s motion. At trial, Enable testified that Loza provided false names for himself and Dorothy Jackson. The State referenced this fact in opening and closing arguments. The Ohio Supreme Court rejected Loza’s argument that he was unlawfully seized. It concluded that Enable conducted a lawful investigatory stop pursuant to Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968). Loza, 641 N.E.2d at 1097-98. The court also rejected Loza’s claim that his statements to Enable should have been suppressed: Appellant’s contention that the statements he made to Enable after being stopped should be suppressed because he was not given Miranda warnings is baseless. Enable merely asked Loza his name and other general questions associated with a police investigation. This type of questioning is not affected by the Supreme Court’s holding in Miranda. Id. at 1098 (citation omitted). Loza now argues that the Ohio Supreme Court unreasonably applied clearly established federal law when it failed to recognize that he was in custody at the time that Enable questioned him and, consequently, that Enable was required to advise him of his Miranda rights. Loza’s argument implicates two constitutional doctrines. First, the Self-Incrimination Clause of the Fifth Amendment provides that “[n]o person ... shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.” U.S. Const, amend. V. In Miranda v. Arizona, the Supreme Court held that in order to protect the privilege against compelled self-incrimination, a suspect “must be warned prior to any questioning that he has the right to remain silent, that anything he says can be used against him in a court of law, that he has the right to the presence of an attorney, and that if he cannot afford an attorney one will be appointed for him prior to any questioning if he so desires.” 384 U.S. at 479, 86 S.Ct. 1602. “An officer’s obligation to administer Miranda warnings attaches ... ‘only where there has been such a restriction on a person’s freedom as to render him ‘in custody.’” Stansbury v. California, 511 U.S. 318, 322, 114 S.Ct. 1526, 128 L.Ed.2d 293 (1994) (per curiam) (quoting Oregon v. Mathiason, 429 U.S. 492, 495, 97 S.Ct. 711, 50 L.Ed.2d 714 (1977) (per curiam)). “In determining whether an individual was in custody, a court must examine all of the circumstances surrounding the interrogation, but ‘the ultimate inquiry is simply whether there [was] a formal arrest or restraint on freedom of movement of the degree associated with a formal arrest.’” Id. (quoting California v. Beheler, 463 U.S. 1121, 1125, 103 S.Ct. 3517, 77 L.Ed.2d 1275 (1983) (per curiam) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted)). The initial custody determination depends on the objective circumstances of the interrogation, not on the subjective views harbored by either the interrogating officers or the person being questioned. Id. at 323, 114 S.Ct. 1526. Additionally, the Fourth Amendment protects “[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons ... against unreasonable searches and seizures.” U.S. Const, amend. IV. In Terry v. Ohio, the Supreme Court held that when a law enforcement officer has a reasonable, articulable suspicion that a person may be involved in criminal activity, he may, consistent with the Fourth Amendment, conduct a brief investigatory stop of the person. 392 U.S. at 30-31, 88 S.Ct. 1868. Such a stop must be “justified at its inception” and “reasonably related in scope to the circumstances which justified the interference in the first place.” Id. at 20, 88 S.Ct. 1868. During the stop, the officer may make “reasonable inquiries” of the person and conduct a pat-down search to check for weapons. Id. “Reasonable inquiries” include, for example, questions about a person’s identity. Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial Dist. Court of Nevada, Humboldt Cnty., 542 U.S. 177, 186, 124 S.Ct. 2451, 159 L.Ed.2d 292 (2004); see also United States v. Hensley, 469 U.S. 221, 229, 105 S.Ct. 675, 83 L.Ed.2d 604 (1985) (observing that if police have a reasonable suspicion that a person they encounter was involved in connection with a completed felony, then they may conduct a Terry stop to “ask questions! ] or check identification”); Hayes v. Florida, 470 U.S. 811, 816, 105 S.Ct. 1643, 84 L.Ed.2d 705 (1985) (“[I]f there are articulable facts supporting a reasonable suspicion that a person has committed a criminal offense, that person may be stopped in order to identify him, to question him briefly, or to detain him briefly while attempting to obtain additional information.”); Adams v. Williams, 407 U.S. 143, 146, 92 S.Ct. 1921, 32 L.Ed.2d 612 (1972) (observing that, pursuant to Terry, an officer may make “[a] brief stop of a suspicious individual!] in order to determine his identity or to maintain the status quo momentarily while obtaining more information”). In Berkemer v. McCarty, the Supreme Court recognized that an individual may be detained, but nonetheless may not be “in custody” for purposes of Miranda. 468 U.S. 420, 437-39, 104 S.Ct. 3138, . 82 L.Ed.2d 317 (1984) (holding that roadside questioning of a motorist detained pursuant to a routine traffic stop does not constitute “custodial interrogation” for purposes of Miranda). The Court remarked on “the absence of any suggestion in our opinions that Terry stops are subject to the dictates of Miranda.” Id. at 440, 104 S.Ct. 3138. It noted, by way of explanation, the “comparatively non-threatening character” of such detentions. Id. The Court explained that although “the officer may ask the detainee a moderate number of questions to determine his identity and to try to obtain information confirming or dispelling the officer’s suspicions ... the detainee is not obliged to respond ... [a]nd, unless the detainee’s answers provide the officer with probable cause to arrest him, he must then be released.” Id. at 439-40, 104 S.Ct. 3138 (footnotes omitted). The Ohio Supreme Court’s determination that Enable questioned Loza pursuant to a lawful Terry stop and, consequently, that Enable was not required to provide Loza with his Miranda rights was not unreasonable. The court noted that Enable had a reasonable, articulable suspicion that criminal activity was afoot based on the letter found in Hoertt’s trash bin regarding a drive-by shooting. Loza, 641 N.E.2d at 1097. He also had reason to suspect that Loza, whom Hoett identified as the man who put the items in the trash bin, may have been involved. Id. In light of these facts, it was not unreasonable for the court to conclude that Enable, pursuant to Terry, permissibly approached Loza, patted him down, and asked him for his name and the name of his companion. Loza argues that Enable’s encounter with him was more coercive than a typical Terry stop. He notes that Enable was holding his firearm when he approached Loza and that he handcuffed Loza and placed him in the back of his patrol car. Courts and commentators have recognized that the line between investigatory stops governed by Terry — particularly those that are more intrusive — and custodial interrogations subject to Miranda is, at times, unclear. See, e.g., Cruz v. Miller, 255 F.3d 77, 84 (2d Cir.2001) (“[T]he [Supreme] Court has not explicitly considered what circumstances of a Terry stop would constitute ‘custody’ requiring Miranda warnings.”); Michael J. Roth, Berkemer Revisited: Uncovering the Middle Ground Between Miranda and the New Terry, 77 Fordham L.Rev. 2779, 2779 (April 2009) (observing that the courts are divided as to whether Miranda applies during a valid, but intrusive Terry stop). However, to the extent that the law is not clearly established, the Ohio Supreme Court’s decision was not unreasonable. For these reasons, Loza is not entitled to habeas relief on this ground. IV. Next, Loza argues that the Ohio Supreme Court’s decision upholding the vol-untariness and admissibility of his confession was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts and was contrary to or an unreasonable application of clearly established federal law. After Dorothy Jackson implicated Loza in her family members’ killings and police discovered the victims, Detectives Enable and Jeffery questioned Loza at the detention center where he was being held. At the beginning of the interview, which was videotaped, Loza waived his Miranda rights. After about an hour of questioning, Loza confessed to the killings. The trial court denied Loza’s motion to suppress his confession, and the video of his confession was played at trial. The Ohio Supreme Court held that Loza’s confession was voluntary and properly admitted. The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment provides that no State shall “deprive any person of life liberty, or property, without due process of law.” U.S. Const, amend. XIV. “[C]ertain interrogation techniques, either in isolation or as applied to the unique characteristics of a particular suspect, are so offensive to a civilized system of justice that they must be condemned under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.” Miller v. Fenton, 474 U.S. 104, 109, 106 S.Ct. 445, 88 L.Ed.2d 405 (1985). In order to determine whether a confession was voluntarily made, a court must evaluate the totality of the circumstances surrounding the interrogation to determine whether the defendant’s “will [was] overborne and his capacity for self-determination critically impaired.” Schneckloth v. Bustamante, 412 U.S. 218, 225-26, 93 S.Ct. 2041, 36 L.Ed.2d 854 (1973). “[C]oercive police activity is a necessary predicate to the finding that a confession is not ‘voluntary.’ ” Colorado v. Connelly, 479 U.S. 157, 167, 107 S.Ct. 515, 93 L.Ed.2d 473 (1986). “[C]oercion can be mental as well as physical.” Blackburn v. Alabama, 361 U.S. 199, 206, 80 S.Ct. 274, 4 L.Ed.2d 242 (1960). In addition to “the crucial element of police coercion,” courts consider “the length of the interrogation, its location, its continuity, the defendant’s maturity, education, physical condition, and mental health” and the failure of police to advise the defendant of his Miranda rights. Withrow v. Williams, 507 U.S. 680, 693-94, 113 S.Ct. 1745, 123 L.Ed.2d 407 (1993) (internal citations omitted); see also Schneckloth, 412 U.S. at 226, 93 S.Ct. 2041 (discussing factors). If a defendant has been advised of his Miranda rights and voluntarily waived them, it will be difficult to claim that his confession was nonetheless involuntary. Missouri v. Seibert, 542 U.S. 600, 609, 124 S.Ct. 2601, 159 L.Ed.2d 643 (2004) (plurality opinion) (noting that “maintaining that a statement is involuntary even though given after warnings and voluntary waiver of rights requires unusual stamina”); see also Berkemer, 468 U.S. at 433 n. 20, 104 S.Ct. 3138 (“[Cjases in which a defendant can make a colorable argument that a self-incriminating statement was ‘compelled’ despite the fact that the law enforcement authorities adhered to the dictates of Miranda are rare.”). The Ohio Supreme Court examined the totality of the circumstances surrounding Loza’s confession and upheld the trial court’s denial of Loza’s suppression motion, reasoning, in part: [W]e concur in the trial court’s finding that the appellant’s statements were voluntarily made and that the appellant’s will to resist was not overborne by threats or improper inducements. Appellant was of majority age and was in command of his faculties at the time he confessed. He was not interrogated for an unreasonable length of time, and was not subjected to physical abuse or harsh conditions. We note that before the interrogation began, appellant waived his Miranda rights. Upon completion of the interrogation, when the detectives asked appellant if he felt threatened by them or if they had made any promises to him, appellant responded that “no,” they had not threatened him, and agreed they had not made any promises to him. Through these affirmations, appellant has confirmed that his confession was voluntarily made. Loza, 641 N.E.2d at 1095. Loza first argues that the Ohio Supreme Court’s decision was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts. He contends that the court’s conclusion that “[n]o threats were made [during the interrogation] concerning [Dorothy] Jackson or what would happen if appellant did not confess,” Loza, 641 N.E.2d at 1094, is contrary to the record. Loza argues that Detectives Enable and Jeffery threatened Dorothy Jackson and Loza’s unborn baby to coerce Loza into confessing. For example, the detectives asked Loza if he “want[ed] Dorothy to have her baby in a penitentiary” or if he wanted “[his] baby to be put up for adoption to somebody you’ve never heard of’ and told Loza that “[t]hat’s what’s going to happen.” At one point, the detectives implied that Loza was not telling the truth and Enable said, “What you’re trying to do is put yourself in an electric chair or a gas chamber right along with Dorothy, and this child is going to go off into never, never land and never be seen again.” Loza argues that he interpreted this statement to mean that if he did not confess, Dorothy Jackson would be prosecuted, and both she and Loza’s unborn child would be sent to the electric chair. The Ohio Supreme Court rejected Loza’s argument that these statements constituted threats, reasoning: The detectives’ references to Jackson were made in response to appellant’s repeated inquiries about what would happen to her. No threats were made concerning Jackson or what would happen if appellant did not confess. The detectives merely informed appellant of the possible consequences of his actions. By the time the detectives were questioning appellant, Jackson had already told the police about appellant’s involvement in the murders. Appellant sought the release of Jackson and he initiated the bargaining for her release. Under these circumstances, the statements made to the detectives were voluntary beyond doubt. Loza, 641 N.E.2d at 1094 (citations omitted). After reviewing the video recording and transcript of Loza’s interrogation, we conclude that the Ohio Supreme Court’s determination that the detectives did not threaten Dorothy Jackson or Loza’s unborn child was not unreasonable. The record supports the court’s conclusion that “detectives merely informed appellant of the possible consequences of his actions” when they told Loza that both he and Dorothy Jackson could be imprisoned for their involvement in the killings. Id. It is unclear what Enable meant when he said that their child would go “into never, never land.” However, it was not unreasonable for the court to characterize Enable’s statement as an assessment of the possible consequences of Loza’s actions, albeit phrased in hyperbolic terms. As the court noted, most of the detectives’ references to Jackson during the interrogation were in response to Loza’s questions about what would happen if Jackson were charged and prosecuted. Viewed in context, the detectives’ comments do not appear to be threats. Even if we believed that some statements could be characterized as threats, our mere disagreement is not enough to supersede the Ohio Supreme Court’s factual determination on habeas review. See Rice, 546 U.S. at 341-42, 126 S.Ct. 969. Next, Loza argues that the Ohio Supreme Court’s determination that his confession was voluntary is contrary to Spano v. New York, 360 U.S. 315, 79 S.Ct. 1202, 3 L.Ed.2d 1265 (1959), and Lynumn v. Illinois, 372 U.S. 528, 83 S.Ct. 917, 9 L.Ed.2d 922 (1963), two pre-Miranda cases in which the Supreme Court reversed defendants’ convictions based on involuntary confessions. In Spano, several officials questioned the defendant, a 25-year-old immigrant with only a half-year of high school education and a history of emotional instability, “for virtually eight straight hours before he confessed” to a killing. 360 U.S. at 322, 79 S.Ct. 1202. During the interrogation, police asked a “fledgling police officer” and close friend of the defendant to falsely tell the defendant that the officer could lose his job, leaving him unable to provide for his pregnant wife and three children. Id. at 317-19, 79 S.Ct. 1202. The Court concluded that the defendant’s “will was overborne by official pressure, fatigue and sympathy falsely aroused.” Id. at 323, 79 S.Ct. 1202. In Lynumn, the defendant confessed to unlawful possession and sale of marijuana after officers told her that she would be sent to jail, her state financial aid would be cut off, and her children would be taken away. 372 U.S. at 533, 83 S.Ct. 917. The threats were made while the defendant was “encircled in her apartment by three police officers” and another man, a twice-convicted felon, who had “purportedly ‘set her up.’ ” Id. at 534, 83 S.Ct. 917. The defendant had no previous experience with criminal law and “no reason not to believe that the police had ample power to carry out their threats.” Id. Thus, the Court concluded that the defendant’s will was overborne. Id. The Ohio Supreme Court’s determination that Loza’s confession was voluntary is not contrary to Spano and Lynumn. Loza suggests that the facts of his case are “materially indistinguishable,” Williams, 529 U.S. at 405-06, 120 S.Ct. 1495, from the facts of these cases, but this is incorrect. First—and most importantly—Spano and Lynumn pre-dated Miranda. Unlike the defendants in these cases, Loza was read his Miranda rights and voluntarily waived them, making it very difficult for him to demonstrate that his confession was nonetheless involuntary. See Seibert, 542 U.S. at 609, 124 S.Ct. 2601; Berkemer, 468 U.S. at 433 n. 20, 104 S.Ct. 3138. Second, other circumstances of Loza’s interrogation distinguish it from the interrogations in Spano and Lynumn, including Loza’s age, education level, the length of his interrogation, the environment in which he was interrogated, and the statements detectives made to him. Even if individual facts are similar, the “totality of the circumstances” in Loza’s case is not the same. Thus, Loza’s case was not so indistinguishable from these eases that the Ohio Supreme Court was required to arrive at the same result. Loza argues that, as in Spano and Lynumn, his interrogators made threats about what would happen to other people if he did not confess. However, as previously discussed, the Ohio Supreme Court’s factual determination that the detectives’ statements were not threats was not unreasonable. Loza argues that, like the defendants in Spano and Lynumn, detectives lied to him when they falsely told him that they had spoken with Jerri Jackson, who was alive but unresponsive when police arrived at the Dorothy Jackson’s family home. However, this similarity does not compel a conclusion that Loza’s confession was involuntary. The Court has subsequently clarified that Miranda does not prohibit “mere strategic deception.” Illinois v. Perkins, 496 U.S. 292, 297, 110 S.Ct. 2394, 110 L.Ed.2d 243 (1990). “Ploys to mislead a suspect or lull him into a false sense of security that do not rise to the level of compulsion or coercion to speak are not within Miranda’s concerns.” Id.; see also Frazier v. Cupp, 394 U.S. 731, 739, 89 S.Ct. 1420, 22 L.Ed.2d 684 (1969) (holding that police misrepresentation of facts, while relevant, was insufficient to render an otherwise voluntary confession inadmissible). Loza also argues that detectives lied to him by promising that he would get to see Dorothy Jackson and that they would testify on his behalf if he confessed. However, the record does not support Loza’s assertion that the detectives lied about these issues. The Ohio Supreme Court reasonably concluded that, although the detectives said they would try to make arrangements for Loza to see Dorothy Jackson, they explicitly said that they could not promise that a meeting would occur. It also reasonably concluded that the detectives did not promise to testify on Loza’s behalf or make any promises regarding the treatment he would receive from the court. For these reasons, the Ohio Supreme Court’s decision was not based on an unreasonable factual determination. Nor was it contrary to or an unreasonable application of clearly established federal law. Loza is not entitled to habeas relief on this ground. Y. Loza argues that the Ohio Supreme Court’s decision upholding the trial court’s exclusion of the testimony of Dr. Roger Fisher, a clinical psychologist, at the guilt phase of trial was contrary to and an unreasonable application of Crane v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 683, 106 S.Ct. 2142, 90 L.Ed.2d 636 (1986). In Crane, the Supreme Court held that the “blanket exclusion” of evidence concerning the circumstances of the defendant’s confession on the ground that it related only to volun-tariness, not credibility, violated the defendant’s right to present a complete defense. Id. at 690-91, 106 S.Ct. 2142. Loza sought to introduce testimony from Fisher at the guilt phase of trial to help explain his confession. Loza’s counsel stated that he expected Fisher to testify that “Loza’s acknowledgment of his participation in the offense and his desire to take full responsibility would have been [the] product of psychological coercion and duress brought upon by the statements of the police officer that his girlfriend would be placed in the electric chair and this child would be sent to never-never land.” He said that he expected Fisher to testify that Loza’s “letters and repeated affirmations of [his confession] would have been consistent with Mr. Loza’s coerced desire to protect his girlfriend and unborn child.” The trial court prohibited Loza’s counsel from introducing Fisher’s testimony at the guilt phase of trial because it had already determined Loza’s confession to be voluntary. However, it permitted Fisher to testify at the mitigation phase, after the jury had found Loza guilty. Fisher testified that Loza’s father abandoned his family when he was five years old, which had a “very drastic” impact on Loza. Fisher testified that when Loza met Dorothy Jackson, she “became the most important thing in Jose Loza’s life.” Fisher explained that Loza saw Dorothy Jackson as “a chance to recover all that he had missed as a much younger, much more helpless child” and “to have his own family set up on his own terms which nobody could take away from him.” Fisher opined, based on his viewing of Loza’s confession, that Loza appeared to be “trying to take a lot of pressure to himself and avoid problems for his girlfriend.” He stated that, in his opinion, Loza would have lied to protect Dorothy Jackson and that he would have done anything necessary to protect his unborn child. The Ohio Supreme Court affirmed the trial court’s decision to exclude Fisher’s testimony at the guilt phase. “Whether rooted directly in the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment or in the Compulsory Process or Confrontation [Clauses of the Sixth Amendment, the Constitution guarantees criminal defendants a meaningful opportunity to present a complete defense.” Crane, 476 U.S. at 690, 106 S.Ct. 2142 (internal quotation marks and citations omitted); see also Chambers v. Mississippi, 410 U.S. 284, 294, 93 S.Ct. 1038, 35 L.Ed.2d 297 (1973) (observing that this opportunity includes “[t]he rights to confront and cross-examine witnesses and to call witnesses in one’s own behalf’); Washington v. Texas, 388 U.S. 14, 19, 87 S.Ct. 1920, 18 L.Ed.2d 1019 (1967) (stating that this opportunity includes “[t]he right to offer the testimony of witnesses, and to compel their attendance, if necessary ... [and] the right to present the defendant’s version of the facts as well as the prosecution’s to the jury so it may decide where the truth lies”). However, “[a] defendant’s right to present relevant evidence is not unlimited.” United States v. Scheffer, 523 U.S. 303, 308, 118 S.Ct. 1261, 140 L.Ed.2d 413 (1998). “[S]tate and federal rulemakers have broad latitude under the Constitution to establish rules excluding evidence from criminal trials.” Id. A defendant’s right to present a complete defense is only violated “by evidence rules that infring[e] upon a weighty interest of the accused and are arbitrary or disproportionate to the purposes they are designed to serve.” Holmes v. South Carolina, 547 U.S. 319, 324, 126 S.Ct. 1727, 164 L.Ed.2d 503 (2006) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted); Scheffer, 523 U.S. at 308, 118 S.Ct. 1261; Alley v. Bell, 307 F.3d 380, 394 (6th Cir.2002) (“[A] defendant’s due process rights are violated when a state court excludes important evidence on the basis of an arbitrary, mechanistic, or per se rule, or one that is disproportionate to the purposes it is designed to serve.”). The Supreme Court has deemed unconstitutional several “arbitrary” rules — that is, “rules that excluded important defense evidence but that did not serve any legitimate interests.” Holmes, 547 U.S. at 325, 126 S.Ct. 1727. For example, in Washington, the Court held that the defendant’s Sixth Amendment rights were violated when a state procedural statute barring co-participants in a crime from testifying on one another’s behalf barred his accomplice’s testimony that he had committed the crime with which Washington was charged. 388 U.S. at 16-17, 87 S.Ct. 1920. The Court observed that the rule “[could not] even be defended on the ground that it rationally sets apart a group of persons who are particularly likely to commit perjury,” because the rule permitted co-participants to testify in situations where the incentive to commit perjury was even greater than the situations in which they were banned. Id. at 22, 87 S.Ct. 1920. In Chambers, the defendant called as a witness a man who had previously confessed to the murder with which Chambers was charged. 410 U.S. at 291, 93 S.Ct. 1038. The man repudiated his confession on the stand, but Chambers was prohibited from examining him as an adverse witness or presenting witnesses who would have discredited his repudiation due to the state’s “voucher” rule, which prohibited a party from impeaching his own witness. Id. at 291-92, 294-95, 93 S.Ct. 1038. The Court noted that the State could not “defend ... or explain” the rationale behind the “voucher” rule and held that “under the facts and circumstances of [the] case,” the rule violated Chambers’ due-process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment. Id. at 297, 303, 93 S.Ct. 1038. See also Rock v. Arkansas, 483 U.S. 44, 61, 107 S.Ct. 2704, 97 L.Ed.2d 37 (1987) (holding unconstitutional a per se rule prohibiting hypnotically refreshed testimony because the evidence constituted “an arbitrary restriction on the [defendant’s] right to testify in the absence of clear evidence by the State repudiating the validity of all posthypnosis recollections”). Crane, the case on which Loza relies, is another example of the Court’s rejection of an arbitrary rule. See Holmes, 547 U.S. at 326, 126 S.Ct. 1727; Alley, 307 F.3d at 395. The defendant in Crane confessed to shooting and killing a liquor store clerk. 476 U.S. at 684, 106 S.Ct. 2142. Prior to trial, Crane moved to suppress his confession on the ground that it was impermissi-bly coerced. Id. at 684-85, 106 S.Ct. 2142. At the suppression hearing, Crane, who was sixteen years old at the time he was interrogated, testified that he was detained in a windowless room for a long period of time, that he was surrounded by as many as six police officers, that he was repeatedly denied permission to call his mother, and that he was “badgered” into making a false confession. Id. at 685, 106 S.Ct. 2142. The trial court found that Crane’s confession was voluntary and denied the motion. Id. At trial, the prosecution moved in limine to prevent the defense counsel from introducing any testimony regarding the circumstances in which the confession was obtained. Id. at 685-86, 106 S.Ct. 2142. Defense counsel argued that she did not intend to relitigate the issue of voluntariness by introducing evidence about the “physical and psychological environment in which the confession was obtained,” but sought “only to demonstrate that the circumstances of the confession cast doubt on its validity and its credibility." Id. at 684, 686, 106 S.Ct. 2142 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). The trial court granted the prosecutor’s motion. Id. at 686, 106 S.Ct. 2142. The Supreme Court held that “the blanket exclusion of the proffered testimony about the circumstances of petitioner’s confession deprived him of a fair trial.” Id. at 690, 106 S.Ct. 2142. The Court noted that the trial court’s ruling rested on the mistaken assumption that “evidence bearing on the voluntariness of a confession and evidence bearing on its credibility fall in conceptually distinct and mutually exclusive categories.” Id. at 687, 106 S.Ct. 2142. The Court emphasized that “ ‘evidence surrounding the making of a confession bears on its credibility’ as well as its voluntariness.” Id. at 688, 106 S.Ct. 2142 (quoting Jackson v. Denno, 378 U.S. 368, 386 n. 13, 84 S.Ct. 1774, 12 L.Ed.2d 908 (1964)). Thus, “regardless of whether the defendant marshaled the same evidence earlier in support of an unsuccessful motion to suppress, and entirely independent of any question of voluntariness,” a defendant may introduce the same evidence at trial “to convince the jury that the manner in which the confession was obtained casts doubt on its credibility.” Id. at 689, 106 S.Ct. 2142. The Court acknowledged that judges have “wide latitude” to exclude evidence that is repetitive, marginally relevant, or poses an undue risk of harassment, prejudice or confusion. Id. at 689-90, 106 S.Ct. 2142. It also acknowledged the power of states to exclude evidence through the application of evidentiary rules that “serve the interests of fairness and reliability.” Id. at 690, 106 S.Ct. 2142. However, the Court noted that “neither the Supreme Court of Kentucky in its opinion, nor respondent in its argument to this Court, has advanced any rational justification for the wholesale exclusion of this body of potentially exculpatory evidence.” Id. at 691, 106 S.Ct. 2142. Therefore, the Court reversed Crane’s conviction. Id. at 692, 106 S.Ct. 2142. The Supreme Court later remarked that Crane did “not set[] forth an absolute entitlement to introduce crucial, relevant evidence” at a criminal trial. Montana v. Egelhoff, 518 U.S. 37, 53, 116 S.Ct. 2013, 135 L.Ed.2d 361 (1996) (plurality opinion). It explained: Our holding that the exclusion of certain evidence in that case violated the defendant’s constitutional rights rested not on a theory that all competent, reliable evidence must be admitted, but rather on the ground that the Supreme Court of Kentucky’s sole rationale for the exclusion (that the evidence did not relate to the credibility of the confession) was wrong. Crane does nothing to undermine the principle that the introduction of relevant evidence can be limited by the State for a valid reason.... Id. Loza argues that the Ohio Supreme Court’s decision upholding the exclusion of Fisher’s testimony was contrary to and an unreasonable application of Crane. The Ohio Supreme Court reasoned: The testimony of Dr. Fisher is clearly outside the holding of Crane. The testimony of the witnesses in Crane related to how the physical and psychological environment of the interrogation could have impacted the voluntariness and credibility of the confession. Dr. Fisher’s proffered testimony relates to how Loza’s individual, psychological makeup, independent of the circumstances surrounding the interrogation, could have impacted the voluntariness and credibility of the confession. Consequently, Crane does not require the admission of Dr. Fisher’s testimony. The jury was able to accurately consider the credibility and weight of the confession by watching it on videotape. They could see and hear the tone and manner of the interrogation, the number of officers present, the physical characteristics of the room, and the length of the interrogation. The jury had the opportunity to evaluate the credibility of the appellant and to give the confession its appropriate probative weight. Because the trial court already had ruled on the voluntariness of the confession and the jury had the opportunity to evaluate the credibility of the confession, the trial court did not abuse its discretion by excluding the testimony of Dr. Fisher during the guilt phase of the trial. Loza, 641 N.E.2d at 1094 (citations omitted). As an initial matter, we observe that the Ohio Supreme Court’s reasoning is somewhat flawed. First, the Ohio Supreme Court implied that evidence of a defendant’s mental state is not relevant to the credibility of a defendant’s confession. This is not the case. The Court in Crane noted that the improperly excluded testimony concerned “the physical and psychological environment in which [Crane’s] confession was obtained.” 476 U.S. at 684, 106 S.Ct. 2142. Crane provides no basis for distinguishing between evidence concerning external factors (such as the time and place at which a defendant was interrogated) and internal factors (such as a defendant’s unique psychological characteristics) that bear on the credibility of a confession. Just as a defendant’s personal characteristics are relevant to determining the voluntariness of a confession, see, e.g., Blackburn, 361 U.S. at 206, 80 S.Ct. 274, so too are they relevant to the credibility of a confession. Next, the Ohio Supreme Court cited the fact that “the trial court already had ruled on the voluntariness of [Loza’s] confession” as a valid reason for excluding Fisher’s testimony at the guilt phase of trial. Loza, 641 N.E.2d at 1094. Crane explicitly states that “the circumstances surrounding the taking of a confession can be highly relevant to two separate inquiries, one legal [voluntariness] and one factual [credibility].” Crane, 476 U.S. at 688, 106 S.Ct. 2142. Thus, the fact that the trial court had ruled on the voluntariness of Loza’s confession did not provide a basis for excluding Fisher’s testimony, to the extent that it was relevant to credibility. Nonetheless, the fact that aspects of the Ohio Supreme Court’s reasoning were flawed does not mean that the court’s decision was contrary to or an unreasonable application of clearly established federal law. A state-court decision is “contrary to” our clearly established precedents if it “applies a rule that contradicts the governing law set forth in our cases” or it if confronts a set of facts that are materially indistinguishable from a decision of this Court and nevertheless arrives at a result different from our precedent. Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362, 405-06 [120 S.Ct. 1495, 146 L.Ed.2d 389] (2000). Avoiding these pitfalls does not require citation of our cases—indeed, it does not even require awareness or our cases, so long as neither the reasoning nor the result of the state-court decision contradicts them. Early v. Packer, 537 U.S. 3, 8, 123 S.Ct. 362, 154 L.Ed.2d 263 (2003). “[0]ur focus on the ‘unreasonable application’ test under Section 2254(d) should be on the ultimate legal conclusion that the state court reached.” Neal v. Puckett, 286 F.3d 230, 246 (5th Cir.2002) {en banc) (per curiam); see also Hurtado v. Tucker, 245 F.3d 7, 20 (1st Cir.2001) (“The ultimate question on habeas ... is not how well reasoned the state court decision is, but whether the outcome is reasonable.... [E]ven a poorly reasoned state opinion does not mean that the outcome represents an unreasonable application.”); Hennon v. Cooper, 109 F.3d 330, 335 (7th Cir.1997) (“It doesn’t follow that the criterion of a reasonable determination is whether it is well reasoned. It is not. It is whether the determination is at least minimally consistent with the facts and circumstances of the ease.”). The Ohio Supreme Court’s decision that Fisher’s testimony was properly excluded was not contrary to or an unreasonable application of clearly established federal law. The “clearly established Federal law,” § 2254(d)(1), at issue is that a defendant’s right to present a complete defense is violated “when a state court excludes important evidence on the basis of an arbitrary, mechanistic, or per se rule, or one that is disproportionate to the purposes it is designed to serve.” Alley, 307 F.3d at 394; see also Holmes, 547 U.S. at 324, 126 S.Ct. 1727; Scheffer, 523 U.S. at 308, 118 S.Ct. 1261. Crane presents one such arbitrary rule: a “blanket exclusion” of testimony about the circumstances of a defendant’s confession on the ground that it is related to voluntariness, not credibility. See Crane, 476 U.S. at 690, 106 S.Ct. 2142. Crane does not stand for the proposition that all crucial, relevant evidence must be admitted, but only that it must not be excluded solely on the basis of this rule. Egelhoff, 518 U.S. at 53, 116 S.Ct. 2013. The Ohio Supreme Court did not apply a “mechanistic, per se” rule that evidence concerning the circumstances of Loza’s confession had to be excluded because it related to voluntariness, not credibility. Alley, 307 F.3d at 394. Rather, it “made an individual determination [that Fisher’s testimony was properly excluded] ... based on the facts specific to [Loza’s] case.” Id. Specifically, after referring to Crane, it clearly and in detail noted the evidence in the record other than Dr. Fisher’s testimony pertaining to credibility. The Ohio Supreme Court noted that the trial court had determined Loza’s confession to be voluntary, but it also observed that Loza was permitted to present other evidence bearing on the credibility of his confession. It stated that the jury had the opportunity to view the videotape of Loza’s confession, observe the “tone and manner of the interrogation, the number of officers present, the physical characteristics of the room, and the length of the interrogation.” Loza, 641 N.E.2d at 1094. Thus, it “had the opportunity to evaluate the credibility of the appellant and to give the confession its appropriate probative weight.” Id. Loza argues that Fisher’s testimony would have provided the jury with additional evidence about Loza’s psychological characteristics that would have helped it weigh the credibility of his confession. Although this may be true, the Ohio Supreme Court reasonably concluded that Crane did not require this evidence to be admitted. The Ohio Supreme Court’s decision is properly characterized as a determination that, given the ample evidence going to credibility, the Crane rule did not require Dr. Fisher’s testimony, a rule embodying the principle that “the introduction of relevant evidence can be limited by the state for a valid reason.” Egelhoff, 518 U.S. at 53, 116 S.Ct. 2013. In short, the Ohio Supreme Court did not exclude Dr. Fisher’s testimony arbitrarily. Thus, the Ohio Supreme Court’s decision was not contrary to or an unreasonable application of Crane, and Loza is not entitled to habeas relief on this ground. VI. Loza argues that the Ohio Court of Appeals’s decision that Loza’s trial counsel was not ineffective for failing to adequately investigate and present evidence regarding Loza’s cultural background and family history was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts and was an unreasonable application of Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984), which sets forth the standard assessing ineffective assistance claims. Prior to trial, Loza’s trial counsel requested funds to travel to Los Angeles to investigate Loza’s background and family history. Loza’s trial counsel stated their intent to review Loza’s medical, educational, juvenile court, and employment records, in addition to speaking with Loza’s family, priest, neighbors, police officers, and others. Loza’s trial counsel also requested funds to hire a mitigation specialist to investigate Loza’s case. The trial court granted both motions. At the guilt phase of trial, Loza’s trial counsel attempted to introduce the testimony of Fisher, the clinical psychologist, in order to explain the psychological characteristics that would have influenced Loza’s confession. The court excluded this testimony. At the mitigation phase of trial, Fisher testified about Loza’s abandonment by his father and his experience living with his sister in Mexico until they could join their mother, who was working to support them in the United States. Fisher described the racism and violence that Loza encountered in Los Angeles and his loose affiliation with gangs. Fisher also explained some of the psychological factors underlying Loza’s relationship with Dorothy Jackson, including his strong desire to have his own family. Fisher opined that Loza’s confession was consistent with Loza’s desire to protect Dorothy Jackson and his tendency to “switch into that super-mach, super grown-up, super-tough guy persona where he takes all the blame.” Loza’s trial counsel also presented testimony from several of Loza’s family members at the mitigation phase of trial. Beatriz Loza, Loza’s mother, said that after Loza’s father left her for another woman, she went to the United States to find work and paid a smuggler to bring her children into the United States. She said that as a child, Loza was picked on because he was perceived to be different. Viviana Loza, Loza’s sister, described Loza’s anger at their father and Loza’s desire to have a big family so that he could pass his name on to his children and restore the family name. Viviana Loza said that her mother instilled in them the importance of sticking by one’s family. Finally, Samantha Ceja, Loza’s seven-year-old half-sister, testified that Loza was her favorite brother and that he gave her a pet rabbit and dolls before he left Los Angeles. In Loza’s petition for post-conviction relief in state court, Loza argued that his trial counsel was ineffective. He argued that his trial counsel failed to consult a cultural expert who could have testified regarding the cultural factors influencing Loza’s confession and provided the jury with information on Mexican culture that could have helped it contextualize mitigation evidence from Loza’s family. Loza supported this claim with affidavits from his trial counsel stating that they did not contact the Mexican consulate in connection with Loza’s case because they had never worked with a Mexican client. Loza presented an affidavit from Susan Keefe, a professor of anthropology, opining that “[i]t would be consistent with Mr. Loza’s Mexican values” to confess to the killings in order to protect his girlfriend and baby and that “[a] real Mexican man would respond to threats against his family, protect his family at all costs, and stand his ground in the most difficult circumstances.” He also presented the affidavit of Julia Hawood, a clinical psychologist, who explained how machismo, “the cultural concept of Mexican manliness,” influenced Loza. Loza also argued that his trial counsel failed to present additional mitigating evidence from Loza’s family. He presented affidavits from his mother, Viviana Loza, and family members who did not testify at trial — his grandmother, Emma Rodes; his sister, Beatriz. Loza; and his brother, Jesus Loza. Loza’s mother’s affidavit contained more information about Loza’s past. She explained that he was beaten by teachers and children at his school in Mexico, that he was a sickly child, and that Dorothy Jackson previously became pregnant by Loza but miscarried the baby. Viviana Loza also stated that Loza was picked on in school in Mexico and the United States, that he was a sickly child, and that he was slow in learning to speak. Rodes, who was Loza’s primary caretaker when he was a child, stated that Loza had asthma and bronchitis as a child and that he was beaten by his mother’s boyfriend. Rodes said that in high school, Loza once “took all the blame” for friends who were caught stealing stereos. Finally, Jesus Loza’s affidavit stated that Loza was once attacked by members of a gang that he refused to join and that he later affiliated with a different gang, one that “did not engage in drive-by shootings,” strictly “for social purposes.” The Butler County Court of Common Pleas denied Loza’s petition for relief, and the Ohio Court of Appeals affirmed. “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right ... to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.” U.S. Const, amend. VI. The Sixth Amendment right to counsel is “the right to the effective assistance of counsel.” McMann v. Richardson, 397 U.S. 759, 771 n. 14, 90 S.Ct. 1441, 25 L.Ed.2d. 763 (1970). In order to demonstrate ineffective assistance of counsel, a defendant must make two showings: deficient performance and preju