Gregory Johnstone v. Walter J. Kelly, Superintendent, Attica Correctional Facility, Respondent

JON O. NEWMAN, Circuit Judge:

This appeal presents the issue whether denial of a defendant’s constitutional right to represent himself at a criminal trial can be harmless error. The issue arises on an appeal by Gregory Johnstone from a judgment of the District Court for the Southern District of New York (Charles L. Brieant, Jr., Chief Judge) denying his petition for a writ of habeas corpus to challenge his state court conviction. Although concluding that the state trial court infringed Johnstone’s Sixth Amendment right to self-representation, the District Court dismissed John-stone’s petition…