Harold Brown v. James A. Lynaugh, Director, Texas Department of Corrections

W. EUGENE DAVIS, Circuit Judge:

Habeas petitioner, Harold Brown, appeals the district court’s denial of habeas relief on his claim that he was denied a fundamentally fair trial when the judge presiding in his trial testified as a witness for the state. We agree with the petitioner and reverse.

I

In February 1982, Brown was convicted and sentenced in a Texas district court for the felony offense of burglary of a habitation with intent to commit rape. Two months later, Brown appeared before the court on a motion for a new trial. Immediately after Brown was brought into the courtroom, he bolted…