John Joseph Hennessy v. Bob Goldsmith Robert Corbin, Attorney General of the State of Arizona

Appellee John Joseph Hennessy was convicted in Arizona state court of attempted armed robbery, burglary, and two counts of class 2 kidnapping. After trial, his appellate attorney discovered that the trial judge had not instructed the jury on an element that had not been contested of the crime of kidnapping. Hennessy then filed with the state trial court a petition for post-conviction relief based on this error. The petition was granted by the trial court, but reversed by the state court of appeals which explicitly found the error harmless. After the state supreme court denied review, Hennessy filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in federal court. The district court granted the writ, apparently agreeing that the instructional failure deprived Hennessy of due process of law. We now reverse.

I

Facts

Armed with a pistol, Hennessy entered the lobby of the Follies Burlesque Theater in Tucson, Arizona on July 12, 1982. He purchased a ticket from employee Jack Bruce and went into the theater’s viewing room. Bruce then went into the rest room. When Bruce returned to the lobby, Hennessy pointed his firearm at him and announced he was robbing the theater. He forced Bruce into…