Swazo v. Wyoming Department of Corrections State Penitentiary Warden

SETH, Circuit Judge.

Proceeding pro se, petitioner-appellant David Swazo appeals the district court’s denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. Because we conclude the district court erred in failing to appoint counsel to represent petitioner, we reverse and remand.1

Petitioner pleaded guilty to first degree sexual assault in 1987 and is currently serving a fifteen to twenty-five year sentence in *333the Wyoming State Penitentiary. Petitioner did not directly appeal his conviction or sentence. He did file a petition…