Barrington B. Bell v. State of Georgia, Joseph S. Hopper, Warden, Georgia State Prison, Reidsville, Georgia

The petitioner was convicted in Georgia state court of armed robbery for which he received a sentence of nine years imprisonment. After exhausting state remedies, he applied for federal habeas corpus relief in the United States District Court, pursuant to 28 U.o.C. § 2254. Following an evidentiary hearing, the district court held that the conviction was constitutionally infirm on the basis of denial of effective assistance of court-appointed counsel at trial.

Petitioner’s sole defense at trial was that he was not in the state on the day of the robbery. He furnished his attorney with the names…