United States of America Ex Rel. Theodore Ross v. Gayle Franzen, Director, Department of Corrections, Dennis Wolff, Warden, Joliet Correctional Center

FAIRCHILD, Senior Circuit Judge.

Petitioner Ross sought a writ of habeas corpus from the district court, alleging that the state trial court had abridged his constitutional rights by refusing to include a plain “not guilty” form among the verdict forms given to the jury. The district court dismissed the petition, finding presumptively correct under 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d), and unrebutted, certain findings of the state appellate court. We conclude that the district court erred in deferring to those rulings and find no justification in the record for the state trial court’s failure to submit the not…