Washington V. Hofbauer

The petitioner, Rufus Washington, a Michigan prisoner convicted of second-degree criminal sexual conduct, appeals the district court's dismissal of his § 2254 habeas petition. His petition alleged prosecutorial misconduct and ineffective assistance of counsel. We find that the prosecutor's misconduct was sufficiently egregious to violate Washington's due process rights, that Washington's trial counsel was ineffective in not objecting to that conduct, and that the state court did not reasonably apply the relevant law in finding otherwise. We are thus compelled to REVERSE and issue the writ.