Richard Lee Hunter v. Michael W. Moore

KRAVITCH, Circuit Judge:

This case presents the question whether a defendant has been denied counsel at a critical stage of his trial when the judge announces a verdict immediately after the close of evidence without offering any opportunity for a closing argument. Because we hold that counsel does not waive closing argument in a bench trial when the trial judge immediately announces his guilty decision on the heels of the close of evidence and provides no opportunity for any objection prior to the guilty verdict, we affirm the district court’s grant of ha-beas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254.

I.…