Guenter Mannhalt v. Amos E. Reed
Opinion
Opinion
Wiggins, J.
Guenter Mannhalt, a Washington state prisoner, appeals the district court’s denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus, filed under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 . Mannhalt alleges that he was denied effective assistance of counsel because of his attorney’s conflict of interest and that a jury instruction deprived him of due process. We REVERSE.
I.
FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS BELOW
In December, 1980, Guenter Mannhalt was charged in King County, Washington, with one count of conspiracy to commit robbery, one count of attempted robbery, and several counts of robbery and possession of stolen property. In all the robbery counts, the state alleged that Mannhalt was an accomplice by virtue of soliciting others to commit the crimes. The possession of stolen property counts were based on jewelry seized from a safe in Mannhalt’s donut shop.
Mannhalt was represented at trial by James Kempton, a Seattle attorney. Kempton had known Mannhalt for several years and had previously represented him in a related trial in Whatcom County, Washington. Sometime in 1979 or 1980 Kempton purchased a gold watch from Mannhalt. Mannhalt assured Kempton that the watch had been purchased from a friend.