Vincent V. Parke

Dean Vincent appeals the district court's order denying his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. In his habeas petition, Vincent raised six different grounds for the issuance of the writ: (1) denial of his sixth amendment right to confront adverse witnesses; (2) denial of his right to an impartial jury; (3) denial of due process by state police detective's opinion testimony as to Vincent's guilt; (4) denial of due process as a result of prosecutorial misconduct; (5) denial of fair trial by improper comments made by the trial judge; and (6) his conviction violated the fifth amendment's protection against double jeopardy. With respect to Vincent's first argument that his sixth amendment right to confront opposing witnesses was violated, the district court found that there was in fact a violation of Vincent's right to confront opposing witnesses as established by Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123, 88 S. Ct. 1620, 20 L. Ed. 2d 476 (1968), but concluded the violation was harmless. The district court rejected Vincent's remaining grounds for habeas relief finding them to be meritless. For the foregoing reasons, we reverse.