Giles v. Wolfenbarger

Respondent Hugh Wolfenbarger appeals the district court’s grant of relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 to petitioner Cleo Giles, a Michigan state prisoner serving a life sentence for felony murder and related charges. The district court, finding that Giles had been deprived of representation by counsel of his choice at trial and that his stand-in attorney had rendered ineffective assistance, issued a conditional writ of habeas corpus pending a retrial in state court. The state, represented here by Warden Wolfenbarger, contends that the petition should have been dismissed in the district court…