Carl Dixon v. Donald I. Snyder

KANNE, Circuit Judge.

This appeal raises one crucial question: whether the Illinois Appellate Court’s determination that Carl Dixon was not deprived of the effective assistance of counsel in his state court murder trial was unreasonable in light of Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). We find that the court’s determination was unreasonable, and thus affirm the order of the district court granting Dixon’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus.

I. History

In an appeal from a ruling on a petition for habeas relief, we review the district court’s findings of…