Glen Prophet v. Jack Duckworth, Warden, Indiana State Prison

PELL, Circuit Judge.

This is an appeal from the district court’s grant of Prophet’s petition for writ of habeas corpus. The district court granted the writ because in Prophet’s state court trial the prosecutor introduced evidence of a 1947 conviction in which Prophet was not given the right to a court-appointed counsel. 1 Although we agree with the district court that the introduction of the uncounseled prior conviction constitutes error under Burgett v. Texas, 389 U.S. 109, 88 S.Ct. 258, 19 L.Ed.2d 319 (1967), we reverse because we are of the opinion that the error was harmless beyond a…