Richard L. Nichols v. E.P. Perini, Superintendent and Attorney General, State of Ohio, Respondents

RALPH B. GUY, Jr., Circuit Judge.

Respondent, Perini (State), appeals from the granting of a writ of habeas corpus to petitioner Nichols. The writ was granted on the basis of the determination that Nichols’ plea of guilty was not knowingly made. The magistrate’s decision below, which became the opinion of the district court when adopted, was essentially based on crediting Nichols’ subjective version of his understanding of his plea bargain. Because we believe that the district court did not give the deference required by 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d) to state court findings, we reverse.

I

The procedural…