Ronald Brownstein v. Director, Illinois Department of Corrections

CUDAHY, Circuit Judge.

In a hearing on this petition for a writ of habeas corpus, the District Court for the Northern District of Illinois determined: that petitioner Brownstein had not made an express waiver, at his trial in Illinois courts, of his right to a jury; that the state appellate court had improperly found that he had expressly waived the right; that because there was no state determination of procedural default the cause and prejudice standard of Wainwright v. Sykes, 433 U.S. 72, 97 S.Ct. 2497, 53 L.Ed.2d 594 (1977), did not apply; but that, nevertheless, since the plaintiff knew…