Graham v. Portuondo

Daryl Graham seeks permission to appeal from the district court’s judgment denying his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition after an evidentiary hearing. Graham, who was pro se below, argues that the court’s failure to appoint him counsel at the hearing violated Rule 8(c) of the Federal Rules Governing § 2254 petitions, which requires that counsel be appointed to indigent petitioners at such hearings. We agree and further find that the district court’s failure to appoint counsel to Graham was clear error. We therefore grant Graham’s motion for a certificate of appealability, vacate the judgment below,…