Dewey E. Coleman v. Jack McCormick Warden, Montana State Prison, and Michael T. Greely, Attorney General for the State of Montana

DAVID R. THOMPSON, Circuit Judge:

Dewey E. Coleman, a Montana state prisoner who has been sentenced to death for the crime of aggravated kidnapping, appeals from the district court’s denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. We reverse his sentence of death and remand for resentencing.

I

FACTS AND PRIOR PROCEEDINGS

The facts upon which Dewey Coleman was found guilty by a jury on November 14, 1976, are fully set forth in Coleman’s first appeal to the Montana Supreme Court and need not be repeated here. State v. Coleman, 177 Mont. 1, 579 P.2d 732 (1978) (Coleman I).…