Douglas D. Chappee v. George Vose

SELYA, Circuit Judge.

Appellants, state correctional officials, ask us to reverse an order of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts granting habeas corpus relief to petitioner-appellee, Douglas D. Chap-pee. In our view, the recent decision in Taylor v. Illinois, — U.S. -, 108 S.Ct. 646, 98 L.Ed.2d 798 (1988) — a case decided by the Supreme Court after we heard oral argument in this matter — constrains us to oblige.

I. BACKGROUND

The details of Chappee’s state court conviction for trafficking in cocaine have been memorialized both on direct appeal and in the federal…