Spencer Riley v. Victor Calloway

Manion, Circuit Judge.

Spencer Riley was acquitted of first-degree murder by an Illinois jury, but he later was convicted at a bench trial of being an "armed habitual criminal." The state had charged these crimes together but, with defense counsel's acquiescence, obtained a severance to proceed separately with the armed habitual criminal count. The state appellate court affirmed Riley's conviction on that count, and the Supreme Court of Illinois declined further review. Riley then filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 claiming that, in light of his acquittal of…