Rodney Washington v. Gary Boughton

Bucklo, District Judge.

A Wisconsin jury convicted Rodney Washington of multiple counts of first-degree sexual assault with the use of a dangerous weapon and other crimes. Washington appealed his conviction, arguing that the criminal complaint that triggered his prosecution was legally insufficient under Wisconsin law; that his trial attorney was ineffective for failing to seek dismissal of the complaint on that ground; and that the trial court deprived him of his constitutional right to self-representation. After exhausting these claims in state court, Washington sought federal habeas corpus…