Stan T. Fenske v. John Thalacker

HANSEN, Circuit Judge.

An Iowa jury convicted Stan T. Fenske of committing first degree burglary, assault with intent to inflict serious injury, and simple assault, in violation of Iowa law. A panel of the Iowa Court of Appeals reversed the burglary conviction with one judge in dissent, but the Supreme Court of Iowa vacated that opinion and affirmed Fenske’s convictions in a unanimous decision. Thereafter, Fenske sought habeas corpus relief in federal district court, see 28 U.S.C. § 2254, on the grounds that the state failed to prove all of the essential elements of burglary and that he…