Darrick A. Rogers v. Norris W. McMackin Superintendent

DAVID A. NELSON, Circuit Judge.

This is a habeas corpus case brought by a man who was convicted, in a state court bench trial, of aggravated robbery and involuntary manslaughter. The question presented is whether the petitioner’s constitutional right to be confronted with the witnesses against him was violated by the receipt into evidence of a nontestifying co-defendant’s confession. On the strength of Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123, 88 S.Ct. 1620, 20 L.Ed.2d 476 (1968), and Lee v. Illinois, 476 U.S. 530, 106 S.Ct. 2056, 90 L.Ed.2d 514 (1986), the federal district court concluded that…