John Joseph Hennessy v. Bob Goldsmith Robert Corbin, Attorney General of the State of Arizona

TROTT, Circuit Judge:

Appellee John Joseph Hennessy was convicted in Arizona state court of attempted armed robbery, burglary, and two counts of class 2 kidnapping. After trial, his appellate attorney discovered that the trial judge had not instructed the jury on an element that had not been contested of the crime of kidnapping. Hennessy then filed with the state trial court a petition for post-conviction relief based on this error. The petition was granted by the trial court, but reversed by the state court of appeals which explicitly found the error harmless. After the state supreme court…