Court Opinion

ID: 9486075
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 11:37:14.299616+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:51:30.998876
License: Public Domain

CUDAHY, Circuit Judge,
with whom BAUER, FLAUM and ROVNER, Circuit Judges, join, dissenting.
On September 10, 1962, in the Circuit Court of Monongalia County, West Virginia, Robert Russell Cuppett, nineteen-years old and illiterate, pleaded guilty without the aid of counsel to breaking and entering and felo-niously stealing $16.12 from a laundromat. Nineteen years later, the state of Indiana submitted proof of this conviction to support a finding that Cuppett was an habitual offender under Indiana law. Faced with this uncounseled, pr e-Gideon conviction by which Cuppett’s sentence for a subsequent offense would be enhanced by thirty years, Cuppett’s trial and appellate counsel made no challenges to the use of this conviction. Subsequently, after seeking post-conviction relief in both West Virginia and Indiana state court, Cuppett filed this action for habeas relief alleging that he received ineffective assistance of counsel when his attorneys failed to object to the use of the uncounseled, pr e-Gideon conviction to enhance his sentence. Today, the majority concludes without further fact-finding that Cuppett’s counsel was not ineffective because Cuppett has failed to show that he was prejudiced by his counsels’ representation. I respectfully dissent and would remand for an evidentiary hearing.
I.
At the outset, I am struck by the innumerable hoops Cuppett has jumped through in his effort to obtain some consideration of his claim. After his conviction and sentence were affirmed by the Indiana Supreme Court, Cuppett v. State, 448 N.E.2d 298 (Ind.1983), Cuppett sought a writ of coram nobis in West Virginia to set aside or vacate the 1962 conviction. The West Virginia court denied the relief, failing to give any reason for the denial. Cuppett filed a motion for the appointment of counsel to perfect an appeal of the issue but the court denied the request, stating, “this matter is final and closed in the State of West Virginia and to allow it to be reopened would mean that finality would never attach to a criminal action in this jurisdiction.” That same day, Cuppett filed another motion for the appointment of counsel to appeal the court’s denial of the writ. The court then sent an official letter to Cuppett with an enclosed order denying relief. The letter quoted the language of the order as to concerns of finality and stated: “Therefore, Mr. Cuppett, the Court has proceeded as far as is possible and further consideration of your request is neither realistic nor appropriate.”
During the time he was seeking a West Virginia remedy, Cuppett was also pursuing post-conviction relief in Indiana, arguing that he received ineffective assistance of counsel when his trial and appellate counsel failed to challenge the use of the 1962 conviction at the habitual offender proceeding. This relief was denied on the merits in 1985 and he appealed. Cuppett v. State, No. 3CR-96-584-360 (Oct. 9, 1985). The court of appeals denied the relief on the merits, noting that a *1150defendant can challenge prior convictions in an habitual offender proceeding in Indiana, but holding that the failure to challenge the use of the 1962 conviction was not prejudicial because the docket entry of the 1962 conviction reveals that he voluntarily waived counsel. Cuppett v. State, 502 N.E.2d 503 (Ind.App.1986) (table). Cuppett filed a petition for rehearing with the court of appeals which was denied. His petition requesting transfer to the Indiana Supreme Court was denied on July 21,1987, in an unpublished order. Cup-pett then filed this habeas action in the Southern District of Indiana.
Notwithstanding Cuppett’s negotiation of this procedural obstacle course, Judge East-erbrook’s concurrence suggests that we should not review his claim because Cuppett did not challenge the validity of his 1962 conviction on direct appeal, and therefore has forfeited our review. This position, however, misapprehends Cuppett’s claim. Cuppett’s claim in federal court is not that we should set aside his West Virginia conviction as vio-lative of Gideon; nor is his claim that his Indiana habitual offender enhancement violated Burgett. Cuppett’s habeas claim alleges that his enhancement was unconstitutional because he received ineffective assistance of counsel in violation of the Sixth Amendment and Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). This ineffectiveness claim no doubt subsumes the Burgett and Gideon questions, but these an-ciliary issues do not constitute the basis for his habeas action.
As to the ineffectiveness claim, there is no question that the enhanced sentence which Cuppett is serving satisfies the “in custody” requirement, Maleng v. Cook, 490 U.S. 488, 492-94, 109 S.Ct. 1923, 1926-27, 104 L.Ed.2d 540 (1989); Crank v. Duckworth, 905 F.2d 1090 (7th Cir.1990), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 1040, 111 S.Ct. 712, 112 L.Ed.2d 701 (1991); Lowery v. Young, 887 F.2d 1309 (7th Cir.1989), that Cuppett raised this argument before the Indiana state courts and exhausted his state remedies, Rose v. Lundy, 455 U.S. 509, 102 S.Ct. 1198, 71 L.Ed.2d 379 (1982), that the last state court to which he presented this federal claim resolved the issue on the merits, Coleman v. Thompson, — U.S. —, 111 S.Ct. 2546, 115 L.Ed.2d 640 (1991), and that we have habeas jurisdiction to review Sixth Amendment claims alleging ineffective assistance of counsel, regardless of the underlying attorney error, Kimmelman v. Morrison, 477 U.S. 365, 383, 106 S.Ct. 2574, 2587, 91 L.Ed.2d 305 (1986) (federal habeas courts have jurisdiction to hear ineffective assistance of counsel claims, even those involving claims which would otherwise be precluded under Stone v. Powell, 428 U.S. 465, 96 S.Ct. 3037, 49 L.Ed.2d 1067 (1976)). Clearly, Cuppett has not “forfeited” his claim. Accordingly, I see no problems, jurisdictional or otherwise, in reviewing this petition.1
*1151II.
To establish a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, a defendant must show that his attorney’s performance was constitutionally deficient, and that this deficiency prejudiced the outcome of the trial. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 668, 104 S.Ct. at 2052; United States ex rel. Barnard v. Lane, 819 F.2d 798, 802 (7th Cir.1987). Deficient performance is representation that falls below the level of reasonably effective assistance under all the circumstances and prevailing professional norms. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 689, 104 S.Ct. at 2065. Prejudice will be found only if there is “a reasonable probability that, but for counsel’s unprofessional errors, the result of the proceedings would have been different.” Id. at 694, 104 S.Ct. at 2068. In evaluating a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, we entertain a strong presumption that counsel’s conduct was motivated by sound trial strategy. Id. at 689, 104 S.Ct. at 2065. I will address each of these requirements, beginning with whether the failure to challenge the conviction was prejudicial.
A. Prejudice
In the seminal case of Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335, 88 S.Ct. 792, 9 L.Ed.2d 799 (1963), the Supreme Court held that in all state criminal prosecutions, the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees the right of counsel to the accused, and indigent defendants have a right to counsel at government expense. A valid waiver of this right to counsel occurs only when the accused understands and intelligently rejects an offer of counsel at government expense. See Carnley v. Cochran, 369 U.S. 506, 516, 82 S.Ct. 884, 890, 8 L.Ed.2d 70 (1962); Smith v. Lane, 426 F.2d 767 (7th Cir.), cert. denied sub nom., Lash v. Smith, 400 U.S. 874, 91 S.Ct. 103, 27 L.Ed.2d 109 (1970). It is impermissible to use a conviction obtained in violation of Gideon to enhance the sentence for another offense. Burgett v. Texas, 389 U.S. 109, 115, 88 S.Ct. 258, 262, 19 L.Ed.2d 319 (1967); United States v. Tucker, 404 U.S. 443, 449, 92 S.Ct. 589, 592, 30 L.Ed.2d 592 (1972).
The majority holds that the failure to challenge the pr e-Gideon conviction was not prejudicial to Cuppett because that conviction was valid. The centerpiece of the majority’s analysis is that Cuppett bears the burden of proving the invalidity of the prior conviction and that he has failed to carry his burden. The majority, however, misinterprets the allocation of the burden of proof.
In an habitual offender prosecution, the state has the burden of proving prior constitutional convictions. United States v. Hope, 906 F.2d 254, 263 (7th Cir.1990), cert. denied, 499 U.S. 983, 111 S.Ct. 1640, 113 L.Ed.2d 735 (1991); Marks v. Rees, 715 F.2d 372, 375 (7th Cir.1983). When the record of a prior conviction is regular on its face, the presumption of regularity attaches, and the burden then shifts to the defendant to show that the prior conviction is constitutionally infirm. United States v. Banks, 964 F.2d 687, 693 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S. —, 113 S.Ct. 470, 121 *1152L.Ed.2d 377 (1992); United States v. Brown, 899 F.2d 677, 680 (7th Cir.1990).
In Parke v. Raley, — U.S. —, 113 S.Ct. at 517, the Supreme Court upheld this burden-shifting scheme with respect to a Kentucky persistent felony offender statute. The Court held that the state may ultimately place the burden of proving the invalidity of prior convictions upon the defendant even when the prior convictions lacked transcripts of their proceedings. Concluding that “[tjhere [was] no good reason to suspend the presumption of regularity,” it noted that the colloquies required by Boykin v. Alabama, 395 U.S. 238, 89 S.Ct. 1709, 23 L.Ed.2d 274 (1969), which the defendant alleged had not been given, “have been required for nearly a quarter-century” and there was no reason to presume that the defendant was not advised of his rights when he pleaded guilty to charges in 1979 and 1981. Parke, — U.S. at —, 113 S.Ct. at 523-24.
In its holding, however, the Court carefully and deliberately distinguished Burgett. In Burgett, the Supreme Court, relying on Camley, had held that it was absolutely impermissible to presume waiver of counsel from a silent record and to permit a conviction so obtained to support guilt or enhance punishment for another offense. The Court in Parke indicated that presuming waiver from a silent record was impermissible in that sort of case because the presumption of regularity did not attach in Burgett: “At the time the prior conviction at issue in Burgett was entered, state criminal defendants’ federal constitutional right to counsel had not yet been recognized, and so it was reasonable to presume that the defendant had not waived a right he did not possess.” Id. at —, 113 S.Ct. at 524.
Parke thus indicates that it is, in general, permissible to require a defendant challenging the use of a prior conviction for enhancement purposes to prove the invalidity of the prior conviction. This rule obtains even on the face of a silent record. But Parke states a crucial exception. When the conviction at issue occurred before Gideon and the defendant was not represented by counsel, then presuming the regularity of a state conviction is not only unwarranted, but it is impermissible! Burgett, 389 U.S. at 114, 88 S.Ct. at 261. Accordingly, in these instances, which are certainly rare today,2 the burden does not shift to the defendant, but the state must bear the burden of proving the validity of the conviction without benefit of the presumption of regularity. The state may satisfy its burden by showing that the particular conviction at issue complied with Gideon or that the custom and practice in the jurisdiction in question at the time of the conviction was consistent with Gideon. United States v. Dickerson, 901 F.2d 579, 583 (7th Cir.1990). To be sure, proving the validity of these now rarely invoked convictions is challenging. Nonetheless, if a state elects to use an un-counseled, pr e-Gideon conviction to enhance a sentence (in this case, by thirty years) the state must be prepared to show that the conviction complied with the mandates of Gideon. This has clearly been the law since Burgett (1967), and chaos has not resulted.
In the present ease, of course, the conviction occurred prior to Gideon and Cuppett was not represented by counsel.3 Conse*1153quently, contrary to the majority’s claim, the state bears the burden of showing that Cup-pett knowingly and voluntarily waived his right to free counsel. The majority contends that the West Virginia court record entry in Cuppett’s case “creates the presumption that Cuppett was informed that he had the right to counsel paid for by the court, and that he knowingly and intelligently waived that right.” Ante at 1138. Waiver of counsel pre-Gideon, however, cannot be presumed but must be established. To constitute waiver, “[t]he record must show, or there must be an allegation and evidence which show, that an accused was offered counsel but intelligently and understanding^ rejected the offer. Anything less is not waiver.” Carnley, 369 U.S. at 516, 82 S.Ct. at 890. The West Virginia docket entry of Cuppett’s conviction states:
This day came the State by the Prosecuting Attorney and the defendants, Robert Russell Cuppett and Robert Lee War-nick, being in custody, were brought out of jail by the Sheriff and placed before the Bar of the Court, and were without counsel, did not desire counsel appointed by this Court to represent them,
According to the majority, this entry proves that CuPPett was informed of his right to counsel at public expense, and that he knowingly and voluntarily waived this right.4 This conclusion is not supported by West Virginia practice prior to Gideon or by Seventh Circuit precedent directly in point.
My first disagreement with the majority’s conclusion rests on the interpretation of the phrase “did not desire.” The majority states that “[a] defendant does not express a ‘desire’ not to have counsel ‘appointed’ until after and unless he has been made aware that he has a right to appointed counsel if he so desires it.” Ante at 1138. However, the entry does not state that Cuppett expressed a desire not to have counsel, it simply states that Cuppett “did not desire counsel.” This is a crucial distinction, for under West Virginia law in 1962, the defendant had a right to free counsel, if at all, only if such counsel was affirmatively requested by the defendant.
*1154In 1962, Betts v. Brady, 316 U.S. 465, 62 S.Ct. 1252, 86 L.Ed. 1595 (1942), was still considered good law. The right to counsel in state criminal convictions had not yet been guaranteed to defendants under the Fourteenth Amendment. Article III, section 14 of the Constitution of West Virginia did ensure the right to counsel, but such right was “a mere privilege.... inserted for the purpose of abrogating the common-law practice under which prisoners, accused of felony, were denied such right, and to restrain the Legislature from denying it by statute.” State v. Yoes, 67 W.Va. 546, 68 S.E. 181 (1910). The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, although never holding that the clause required the state to furnish counsel at public expense, indicated that even if the state was so obliged, provision of counsel was not required unless affirmatively requested by the defendant: “ ‘Even if said clause makes it the duty of the state to furnish counsel when demanded, it does not follow that such action is to be taken unless demand therefor has been made....”’ Wade v. Skeen, 140 W.Va. 565, 85 S.E.2d 845, 847 (1955) (quoting State v. Kellison, 56 W.Va. 690, 47 S.E. 166, 167 (1904)). See also State ex rel. Post v. Boles, 147 W.Va. 26, 124 S.E.2d 697, 702 (the right to counsel under the West Virginia constitution “is the right of a defendant to call for or demand counsel and to have counsel act pursuant to the call or demand”), cert. denied, 371 U.S. 833, 83 S.Ct. 57, 9 L.Ed.2d 70 (1962). The right to counsel could be waived, “and the silence of the accused, and his failure to request the assistance of counsel, is a waiver of such constitutional guaranty.” State v. Briggs, 58 W.Va. 291, 52 S.E. 218, 219 (1905).
Not until 1964, after Gideon, did West Virginia overrule this line of precedent. In State ex rel. May v. Boles, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals stated:
We are not unaware of the decisions of this Court which have held that a waiver of the right to counsel will be presumed from the failure to request counsel, a record silent as to a request for counsel, or the entry of a guilty plea, [citing Kellison, Briggs, Yoes and Wade ]
However, in the light of [Gideon, Carnley and Doughty v. Maxwell, 376 U.S. 202, 84 S.Ct. 702, 11 L.Ed.2d 650 (1964) (summarily reversing Ohio court’s denial of ha-beas relief on ground that petitioner had failed to request assistance of counsel) ], we feel constrained to hold that a state conviction can not stand when founded on a guilty plea by a defendant unaware of his right to counsel or on a record silent as to the matter of assistance of counsel. Therefore, to the extent that the holdings and statements in [our prior precedent] are inconsistent or in conflict with this opinion, such holdings are overruled and such statements are disapproved.
139 S.E.2d 177, 181 (1964) (defendant with seventh-grade education charged with grand larceny and ultimately sentenced to term of one to ten years in prison was not “in any manner” informed of right to assistance of counsel in 1962). See also Call v. McKenzie, 159 W.Va. 191, 220 S.E.2d 665 (1975) (identifying specific questions trial judge should ask defendant to determine if guilty plea is knowing, intelligent and voluntary).
West Virginia statutory law concerning the right to counsel did not differ significantly from state constitutional law. In 1962, the West Virginia Code provided in part:
The accused shall be allowed counsel if he desire it to assist him in his defense, and a copy of the indictment, and of the list of the jurors selected or summoned for his trial ... shall be furnished him, without fee, upon his request, at any time before the jury is impaneled.
W.Va.Code § 62-3-1 (1931) (repealed 1965). This provision was expressly repealed in 1965 as part of an overhaul of the West Virginia law of criminal procedure. On the heels of Gideon in 1965, the West Virginia Code of Criminal Procedure was amended to its present form and provides in relevant part:
When a person under indictment for a crime indicates that he desires to plead guilty, he may be called upon to sign in open court a form acknowledging his plea to the indictment or to such count or counts thereof as he shall designate. Before accepting a plea of guilty, the court shall satisfy itself by interrogation of the *1155defendant or his counsel that the defendant has received a copy of the indictment and understands the nature of the charges. If the defendant is without counsel, the court shall advise him of his constitutional right to the assistance of counsel before pleading to the indictment. If the defendant is an indigent, the court shall offer to appoint counsel for him. The plea when signed and witnessed shall become a part of the record of the case. The plea shall be sufficient if it is substantially in the following form:
B. If the defendant has waived counsel:
STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA
vs.
Indictment No_
(Defendant)
I certify that I have been advised of my constitutional right to the assistance of counsel; that I have no money to employ counsel; that I have been offered counsel at no cost to me; and that I have given up my right to have counsel provided to assist me.
I have received a copy of the indictment before being called upon to plead. It has been read or explained to me and I fully understand the nature of the charges against-me, including the penalties that the court may impose.
I hereby plead guilty to said indictment and each count thereof.
Dated: ___
Witness:
(Defendant)
(Clerk)
W.Va.Code § 62-3-la (1992). A comparison of the two statutes illustrates that it was not until 1965 that a trial judge was required to make an express offer of counsel to an indigent defendant under the West Virginia Code.
The case law and statutory law demonstrate that the custom in West Virginia in 1962 was that the defendant must take the initiative and request counsel.5 Even assum*1156ing that the West Virginia Constitution required the state to furnish counsel to indigents, the trial judge had no duty to make an affirmative offer of counsel. If the defendant failed to request counsel, his right to counsel was deemed waived.6 Thus, the sentencing judge’s assertion that Cuppett “did not desire counsel” does not establish that he was informed of his right to free counsel and that he knowingly waived that right. Rather, the word “desire” in the context of state-funded counsel at this time in West Virginia quite possibly meant that Cuppett did not of his own accord “demand” or “request” free counsel. Thus, the state has certainly not shown that the conviction complies with Gideon.
My second disagreement with the majority relates to the significance of the term “appointed counsel.” Even if I were to accept the sentencing order as sufficient to show that Cuppett explicitly declined an offer of counsel, I cannot accept it as an adequate demonstration that he understood he had a right to counsel at court expense.7 In Smith v. Lane, 426 F.2d at 767, this Court faced a case with very similar facts. The petitioner was sentenced to life imprisonment under Indiana’s habitual criminal statute, based in part on a 1942 conviction following an un-counseled guilty plea. This Court held that the following state court entry was insufficient to establish a knowing and intelligent waiver of counsel in 1942:
[T]he said affidavit was read to him by the prosecuting attorney, and before he entered his plea he was advised by the State of Indiana the nature of the crime charged and the penalties thereof, and if he wanted an attorney to represent him in this cause, and the said defendant stated that he did not want the service of an attorney and that he knew the nature of the crime and the penalty thereof, and that he wanted to plead guilty to the charge of Vehicle Taking as charged in the affidavit.
Id. at 768. We explained that a defendant’s right to counsel cannot properly be considered waived “if the accused was not informed of his right to counsel even though he can not afford to pay.” Id. at 769; see also Slaton v. United States, 356 F.Supp. 1172 (N.D.Ill. 1973) (minute order stating “Defendants and each of them waive right to counsel and enter pleas of guilty,” found insufficient to establish a knowing and intelligent waiver of counsel in 1950 conviction; thus 1950 conviction could not be used to enhance sentence for subsequent conviction); McDandal v. State, 180 Ind.App. 654, 390 N.E.2d 216, 217 (1979) (citing Smith v. Lane with approval in reversing a conviction in which the defendant was merely asked if he “wish[ed] to get a lawyer”).
In the present case, the record does not disclose that Cuppett was advised that he was entitled to court-appointed counsel at the state’s expense if he was indigent. The majority, however, relies on the reasoning of the district court, and equates “appointed counsel” with “free counsel”:
The principal distinguishing characteristic of this cause is the trial court’s use of the word “appointed.” In legal jargon “appointed” has a specific connotation referring to judicial assignment of cost free counsel to a criminal defendant. Any other use of the word would be inappropriate in the common language of trial procedure. The record, therefore, indicates that the defendant had been informed of his right *1157to have an attorney notwithstanding his inability to pay and knowingly and intelligently waived that right.
Cuppett v. Cohn, No. IP87-1184-C (S.D.Ind. filed Jan. 9, 1989). The majority’s focus on the word “appointed”- leads it hopelessly astray. First, the word “appointed” may not have been used by the court when informing the defendant of his right to counsel. The docket entry could represent a summary of the judge’s understanding of his interaction with Cuppett.
Second, even if the judge informed Cup-pett of his right to “appointed” counsel, there is no reason to believe that, in the pre-Gideon period, “appointed” in fact carried the same widely understood connotation that it does today. Given the lack of a uniform standard or practice before Gideon, differing state practices would have lent different meanings to the term.
The majority states, however, that “courts do not ‘appoint’ attorneys unless they are paid for from public funds.” Ante at 1138. I can think of at least two situations when this may well not be the case. First, a court may appoint counsel when the defendant, although not indigent, cannot immediately afford to pay for an attorney. In United States v. Johnson, 659 F.2d 415, 416 (4th Cir.1981), for example, the defendant was deemed unable to immediately afford counsel, but with sufficient income to pay installments to the court to defray the cost of counsel. “Counsel was appointed, and Johnson was ordered to deposit $250.00 with the court -within a week and to pay $100.00 [monthly] to the court until he had paid his attorney’s fees.” Id.
Second, a court may appoint counsel at defendant’s expense when the defendant is unable to obtain an attorney. This may be the case if a particularly undesirable or unpopular defendant is unsuccessful in securing counsel through his own efforts and the court must appoint counsel in order to provide an attorney to represent the defendant. Further, a court may appoint counsel in order to assist an incompetent, immature or particularly naive defendant.
In any event, even if in 1962 the term “appointed” had the same meaning it connotes today, it is far from clear from this fact that the defendant knowingly waived his right to counsel. Just because the judge or a lawyer in 1962 may have understood the legal significance of the term “appointed,” it is Cuppett’s understanding that is relevant here. The majority’s reasoning fails to take into account the command of Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458, 464, 58 S.Ct. 1019, 1023, 82 L.Ed. 1461 (1938): “[W]hether there has been an intelligent waiver of right to counsel must depend, in each case, upon the particular facts and circumstances surrounding that case, including the background, experience, and conduct of the accused.” Cf. United States v. Lowry, 971 F.2d 55, 62 n. 6 (7th Cir.1992) (noting defendant’s extensive education and business experience in rejecting claim of involuntary waiver of conflict-free counsel). The record indicates that at the time of the 1962 conviction, Cuppett was nineteen-years old and illiterate. It is by no means certain that someone in Cuppett’s position would interpret “appointed” to mean “at no charge if you are poor.” It is more likely that a nineteen-year-old, illiterate person would not understand “appointed” in the same terms as a person comfortably familiar with legal jargon. See Johnson, 659 F.2d at 415 (reversing conviction because defendant construed court’s offer of appointed counsel to mean counsel appointed by court for which the defendant must pay).
In the absence of other evidence, it is a far leap to infer from the judge’s brief description of pre-Gideon events that the nineteen-year-old, illiterate defendant understood and validly waived his right to counsel. It is a leap that we should decline to take. Contrary to the majority’s analysis, the use of the word “appointed” in the sentencing order does not establish that Cuppett knowingly waived his right to free counsel.
Cuppett alleges he did not make a knowing and intelligent waiver of his right to counsel. This is not a ease in which the defendant’s position is supported by no more than his own self-serving statements. See, e.g., Ferguson, 935 F.2d at 867; Boyer, 931 F.2d at 1205. The curt sentencing order relied upon by. Indiana does not establish that Cuppett made a knowing and intelligent waiver of his *1158right to counsel at government expense. West Virginia law at the time of his conviction put the burden on the defendant to request the services of counsel. In addition, Cuppett was nineteen-years old and illiterate at the time of the West Virginia conviction. These facts together with the strong presumption against the waiver of constitutional rights, see Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. at 464, 58 S.Ct. at 1023, confirm that the West Virginia conviction should not have been admitted to enhance Cuppett’s sentence. Without the West Virginia conviction, the prosecution could not have established all the elements necessary for an habitual offender enhancement. Cuppett meets the “prejudice” prong of the Strickland test.
B. Performance
As I have discussed, Cuppett had a strong and meritorious argument under the Sixth Amendment. In addition, merely the date (pre-Gideon) of Cuppett’s West Virginia conviction and the fact that he was not represented by counsel should have alerted both his trial and appellate counsel to the likelihood of a failure to meet the mandates of Gideon. The looming prospect of a thirty-year enhancement demanded some further inquiry into what occurred in West Virginia in 1962. It may be that this error by counsel sprang from another error in calculating that Cuppett had more than one other prior conviction.8
Having concluded that the petitioner has failed to satisfy the prejudice prong of the Strickland analysis, the majority does not address the performance prong. Judge Easterbrook’s opinion, however, argues that Cuppett’s counsel was not constitutionally deficient because it was unclear at the time whether counsel could have collaterally attacked a conviction used to enhance a sentence.9 This contention is wholly unsupportable. Whatever may be said of the views contained in Judge Easterbrook’s opinion of the proper scope of collateral review and the weight to be accorded Burgett in the light of recent Supreme Court precedent,10 Burgett *1159and its progeny are still the law, as the Supreme Court specifically recognized in Parke. Perhaps more importantly to our inquiry, the Btirgett line of cases were the law at the time of the alleged ineffectiveness. Even beyond Burgett, eases such as Loper v. Beto, 405 U.S. 473, 92 S.Ct. 1014, 31 L.Ed.2d 374 (1972), and Prophet v. Duckworth, 580 F.2d 926, 927 (7th Cir.1978), cert. denied, 440 U.S. 923, 99 S.Ct. 1251, 59 L.Ed.2d 476 (1979), which held that an uncounseled conviction unconstitutional under Gideon could not be used for impeachment purposes, and Tucker, 404 U.S. at 443, 92 S.Ct. at 589, and Crovedi, 517 F.2d at 543, which held that an uneounseled conviction unconstitutional under Gideon could not be used for sentencing purposes, clearly suggested that the use of such convictions was impermissible and that the principle of Burgett was alive and well. And Smith v. Lane, 426 F.2d at 769, made it abundantly clear that a defendant could collaterally challenge a conviction obtained in violation of Gideon when such a conviction is used to enhance his sentence.
And even if, for whatever reason, it was somehow questionable whether such an attack was available in federal court,11 it was clear at the time, and still is today, that Indiana permits the defendant to raise as a defense to an habitual offender charge the invalidity of the prior conviction on the grounds that the predicate conviction was obtained in violation of Gideon. In Hall v. State, a case decided near the time of the alleged ineffectiveness, the Indiana Supreme Court stated that, “it is also clear that a defendant may raise as a defense the asserted invalidity of those prior convictions [including a 1965 Arkansas guilty plea] if he can show the he was not adequately represented by counsel or knowingly and intelligently waived such representation at the time of the prior conviction.” 273 Ind. 507, 405 N.E.2d 530, 536 (1980) (citing, among other state cases, Burgett). See also Morgan v. State, 440 N.E.2d 1087, 1088 (Ind.1982) (habitual offender defendant may raise as defense the invalidity of the prior convictions) (citing Hall and Burgett).
In 1985, the Indiana Supreme Court procedurally limited challenges to predicate felony convictions in habitual offender proceedings. It held that the proper avenue for challenging these convictions was in a direct attack through appeal or post-conviction relief in the court of conviction. Edwards v. State, 479 N.E.2d 541, 547 (Ind.1985). Nonetheless, the court concluded that a defendant may challenge a predicate conviction if (1) the record of the conviction raises the presumption that the conviction is constitutionally infirm and (2) the constitutional infirmity undermines the integrity and reliability of the determination of guilt. Id. As to the second criterion, the court noted that the integrity of the determination would indeed be undermined when “the defendant was not represented by counsel or knowingly and intelligently waived such representation at the time of the prior felony conviction.” Id. On the other hand, Boykin violations were not deemed to undermine the integrity of the determination of guilt. Thus, even if Cup-pett’s counsel were to raise the claim in an Indiana court today, the court would permit Cuppett to challenge the use of his uncoun-seled, pre-Gideon conviction at his habitual offender proceeding.
The state has offered no reasonable explanation of why Cuppett’s counsel would fail to object to the admission of the 1962 conviction at trial, or why his counsel would forego this issue on appeal. It is possible, however, that Cuppett’s attorneys had some legitimately strategic reason for not objecting to the 1962 conviction, though I confess I am unable to think of one. There is also the possibility that Cuppett actually told his attorneys that he knowingly and intelligently waived his right to counsel in 1962. Because of these possibilities, I would not reverse outright but would remand this cause to the district court for an evidentiary hearing. Of course, I realize that Cuppett’s attorneys may have difficulty remembering specific conversations or research in this 12-year-old case, but they should have an opportunity to explain their *1160conduct in the case to the extent they can remember it.
III.
Thirty years ago, the Supreme Court stated in Gideon: “[R]eason and reflection require us to recognize that in our adversary system of criminal justice, any person haled into court, who is too poor to hire a lawyer, cannot be assured a fair trial unless counsel is provided to him.” 372 U.S. at 344, 83 S.Ct. at 796. Quoting from Powell v. Alabama, the Court admonished:
“The right to be heard would be, in many cases, of little avail if it did not comprehend the right to be heard by counsel. Even the intelligent and educated layman has small and sometimes no skill in the science of law. If charged with crime, he is incapable, generally, of determining for himself whether the indictment is good or bad. He is unfamiliar with the rules of evidence. Left without the aid of counsel he may be put on trial without a proper charge, and convicted upon incompetent evidence, or evidence irrelevant to the issue or otherwise inadmissable. He lacks both the skill and knowledge adequately to prepare his defense, even though he have a perfect one. He requires the guiding hand of counsel at every step in the proceedings against him. Without it, though he be not guilty, he faces the danger of conviction because he does not know how to establish his innocence.”
Id. at 344-45, 83 S.Ct. at 797 (quoting 287 U.S. 45, 68-69, 53 S.Ct. 55, 64, 77 L.Ed. 158 (1932)).
In the years since Gideon, the Court has recognized the primacy of the right to counsel in our adversarial system. Of the rights to which a criminal defendant is entitled, the Court has consistently recognized that the right to counsel guaranteed thirty years ago in Gideon is the paradigmatic rule of criminal procedure ensuring the “fundamental fairness and accuracy of the criminal proceeding.” Saffle, 494 U.S. at 495, 110 S.Ct. at 1264; Teague, 489 U.S. at 311, 109 S.Ct. at 1075. Moreover, the Court has held that the right to counsel means more than having an attorney at the defendant’s side to hold his hand in the journey from freedom to incarceration; the Sixth Amendment right entitles the defendant to an attorney “who plays the role necessary to ensure that the trial is fair.” Strickland, 466 U.S. at 685, 104 S.Ct. at 2063.
In 1962, Cuppett was not represented by an attorney when he pleaded guilty to stealing $16.12 from a laundromat, and the docket entry of his conviction does not establish that he knowingly and intelligently waived his right to counsel. In 1982, Cuppett’s trial and appellate counsel failed to challenge the use of the uncounseled pre-Gideon conviction to enhance his sentence by thirty years. Although the right to counsel in the last three decades has earned as secure a place as is conceivable, it apparently has not been secured to Robert Cuppett. I respectfully dissent.

. I cannot see how concerns of comity, full faith and credit and finality would preclude our review, or Indiana’s, of the pre-Gideon conviction. The principle of comity, of course, serves important interests of federalism. But we must recognize that the comity interest in the conviction is not Indiana’s, but West Virginia's. Indiana must stand in the shoes of West Virginia to assert this interest and, thus, the comity interest at stake is only as strong as the interest which West Virginia places upon the conviction. The fact is, however, that West Virginia has no real further interest in preserving Cuppett’s conviction there. The West Virginia judgment of conviction was enforced against Cuppett, he served his time and satisfied the judgment; any further interest in the matter by West Virginia is quite insubstantial. When the state at issue no longer has an interest in its conviction, the principle of comity is misplaced. See Mills v. Jordan, 979 F.2d 1273, 1276-77 (7th Cir.1992). It makes little sense, therefore, to invoke comity on behalf of West Virginia's interest in the conviction to preclude habeas review.
Judge Easterbrook’s concurrence, moreover, suggests that the Full Faith and Credit Clause prohibits Indiana from reviewing the validity of the West Virginia conviction. Ante at 1147 (citing Lowery v. McCaughtry, 954 F.2d 422, 423-24 (7th Cir.1992)). However, there is nothing which requires Indiana to consider a sister state’s conviction for purposes of enhancing a sentence of its own. See Parke v. Raley, — U.S. -, -, 113 S.Ct. 517, 522, 121 L.Ed.2d 391 (1992) (noting discretion states have in combatting recidivism). If the state of Indiana chooses to enhance its sentences for habitual offenders based only upon convictions obtained in accordance with the mandates of the Constitution, what in the Constitution compels it to consider even those convictions which do not?
I am also mindful of the interests of finality and of the desire to "close the books” on a *1151particular matter. However, the right to counsel has uniformly been considered of such importance that challenges to convictions on this ground have been excepted from rules precluding collateral review. Saffle v. Parks, 494 U.S. 484, 495, 110 S.Ct. 1257, 1263, 108 L.Ed.2d 415 (1990); Teague v. Lane, 489 U.S. 288, 311, 109 S.Ct. 1060, 1075, 103 L.Ed.2d 334 (1989). In my mind, moreover, finality is a two-way street. Cuppett has served his time for the 1962 conviction and the state of West Virginia deems the matter "closed.” Prior to 1982, it is unclear what motivation Cuppett would have had to challenge the validity of the pr e-Gideon conviction. Cf. Mills, 979 F.2d at 1277 n. 3. But when the state of Indiana reaches back for the conviction and attempts to pass it off as constitutional for purposes of enhancement, it seems to me that the state, not Cuppett, is the one reopening the matter. Of course, I do not question the use of prior convictions for enhancing sentences. But once the state breathes new life into a dormant conviction, it only seems appropriate that the defendant should then have the opportunity to challenge the conviction’s validity. It would be especially unjust to deny review on the basis that the defendant did not challenge the conviction on direct review or in a collateral action in the court of conviction when we have previously stated that doing so was not necessary. Crovedi v. United States, 517 F.2d 541, 546 (7th Cir.1975) ("we will not require in any of the cases that there have been an effort at exhaustion, i.e., an attack in the court of prior conviction.... [The] conviction ... if unconstitutionally obtained, is infirm from its incipiency.”). Given our assurance that a defendant could collaterally challenge the validity of a conviction used to enhance a subsequent sentence, it would be manifestly unfair to conclude now that he has “forfeited" his claim.

. The majority's concern for "judicial chaos, if all criminal convictions are considered void, until the government proves that they are not,” Ante at 1139, is blatant reducio rhetoric. This alarmist claim is certainly without basis in my position or in the stance adopted by the Court in Parke. Parke makes clear that the government does not have to prove the validity of all prior convictions, but only those in which the presumption of regularity does not attach — specifically, the now rare pr e-Gideon convictions.

. In the cases relied upon by the majority for the position that the defendant bears the burden of proving the prior conviction invalid, the presumption of regularity properly attached because in all of those cases, the defendants were represented by counsel or it was established that the defendant was informed of his right to free counsel and he knowingly and intelligently waived the right. Moreover, it seems that the convictions challenged in those cases occurred after Gideon and, thus, the custom and practice of the courts in question were constitutional and uniform. United States v. Gallman, 907 F.2d 639, 643 (7th Cir.1990), cert. denied, 499 U.S. 908, 111 S.Ct. 1110, 113 L.Ed.2d 219 (1991), involved a 1967 guilty plea in which the defendant was represented by counsel. United States v. Boyer, 931 F.2d 1201, 1205 (7th Cir.), cert. denied,-U.S.-, 112 S.Ct. 209, 116 L.Ed.2d 167 (1991), involved a defendant who testified that he could not recall *1153whether he had been informed of his rights before pleading guilty, and due to the death of the court reporter, no transcript was prepared. The defendant was represented by counsel, and failed to take steps to prove that he was not informed of his rights, such as having the reporter's notes transcribed or calling his trial counsel to testify whether he received his warnings. United States v. Ferguson, 935 F.2d 862, 867 (7th Cir.1991), cert. denied, - U.S. -, 112 S.Ct. 907, 116 L.Ed.2d 807 (1992), involved a challenge to a 1977 guilty plea in which the defendant was represented by counsel and the defendant claimed that the plea was not made voluntarily. In the absence of a transcript of the plea proceedings due to the reporter’s death, the court relied on the custom and practice of the court at the time of the guilty plea in order to show that the 1977 conviction was regular and that the defendant failed to rebut the burden of proving its unconstitutionality. Finally, Banks, 964 F.2d at 693, involved a challenge to a guilty plea based on the defendant’s allegation that he was not represented by counsel and that he was not informed of his constitutional rights. The court found, however, that the state records on his guilty plea indicated that he was indeed represented by counsel, and that all was in "normal customary proper order.”
In the one case cited by the majority in which the defendant challenged a guilty plea made without the aid of counsel, the court noted that the defendant was informed of his right to counsel if indigent, that the defendant knowingly waived that right and that the custom and practice of the courts in question complied with constitutional requirements. Brown, 899 F.2d at 680.

. The majority also suggests that this conclusion is essentially a factual finding by the Indiana state court which we must accept under § 2254(d). In my view, however, the question of waiver in this context is predominantly, if not entirely, a question of law:
What is the significance of the docket entry in the light of pre-Gideon West Virginia law and post-Gideon federal constitutional law? To the extent that waiver of a right is tied to factual findings by the state trial court, such deference is warranted only because the trial judge was there to witness the waiver and to assess whether it was given knowingly and intelligently. In the present context, of course, none of the Indiana judges reviewing the purported waiver were present in West Virginia in 1962 or, for that matter, have any expertise in West Virginia law. The state trial court loses its claim of special competence when the court is divorced from the underlying proceeding and is simply called upon to give its opinion as to the significance of a thirty-year-old docket entry of another state’s conviction. Thus, we need not accept the state courts’ opinions, but can review for ourselves whether the docket entry establishes that the defendant waived his right to counsel.

. That the right to counsel in West Virginia prior to Gideon did not comply with the mandates of that case cannot seriously be questioned. In the three years after Gideon, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals found no less than 40 pre-Gideon convictions and enhanced sentences violated the defendants’ right to counsel. State ex rel. Johnson v. Boles, 151 S.E.2d 213 (1966); State ex rel. Ponton v. Boles, 150 S.E.2d 339 (1966); State ex rel. Wright v. Boles, 146 S.E.2d 524 (1966); State ex rel. Widmyer v. Boles, 144 S.E.2d 322 (1965); State ex rel. Browning v. Boles, 144 S.E.2d 74 (1965); State ex rel. Wolford v. Boles, 144 S.E.2d 73 (1965); State ex rel. Curtis v. Boles, 143 S.E.2d 824 (1965); State ex rel. Holstein v. Boles, 143 S.E.2d 821 (1965); State ex rel. Truman v. Boles, 143 S.E.2d 820 (1965); State ex rel. Hill v. Boles, 143 S.E.2d 467 (1965); State ex rel. Bullett v. Boles, 143 S.E.2d 133 (1965); State ex rel. Owens v. King, 142 S.E.2d 880 (1965); State ex rel. Stapleton v. Boles, 142 S.E.2d 896 (1965); State ex rel. Kozdron v. Boles, 142 S.E.2d 769 (1965); State ex rel. Walls v. Boles, 142 S.E.2d 767 (1965); State ex rel. Reed v. Boles, 142 S.E.2d 733 (1965); State ex rel. Carver v. Boles, 142 S.E.2d 731 (1965); State ex rel. Dayton v. Boles, 142 S.E.2d 471 (1965); State ex rel. Gosnell v. Boles, 149 W.Va. 550, 142 S.E.2d 465 (1965); State ex rel. Hall v. Boles, 149 W.Va. 527, 142 S.E.2d 377 (1965); State ex rel. Lovejoy v. Boles, 149 W.Va. 532, 142 S.E.2d 374 (1965); State ex rel. Waugh v. Boles, 149 W.Va. 525, 142 S.E.2d 62 (1965); State ex rel. Robison v. Boles, 149 W.Va. 516, 142 S.E.2d 55 (1965); State ex rel. Bryan v. Boles, 149 W.Va. 359, 141 S.E.2d 81 (1965); State ex rel. Cobb v. Boles, 149 W.Va. 377, 141 S.E.2d 59 (1965); State ex rel. Blankenship v. Boles, 149 W.Va. 324, 141 S.E.2d 68 (1965); State ex rel. Pettery v. Boles, 149 W.Va. 379, 141 S.E.2d 80 (1965); State ex rel. Whytsell v. Boles, 149 W.Va. 324, 141 S.E.2d 70 (1965); State ex rel. Calloway v. Boles, 149 W.Va. 297, 140 S.E.2d 624 (1965); State ex rel. Kelly v. Boles, 149 W.Va. 303, 140 S.E.2d 622 (1965); State ex rel. Wadkins v. Boles, 149 W.Va. 306, 140 S.E.2d 620 (1965); State ex rel. Stafford v. Boles, 149 W.Va. 309, 140 S.E.2d 618 (1965); State ex rel. Jackson v. Boles, 149 W.Va. 279, 140 S.E.2d 619 (1965); State ex rel. White v. Boles, 149 W.Va. 281, 140 S.E.2d 591 (1965); State ex rel. Calloway v. Boles, 149 W.Va. 264, 140 S.E.2d 463 (1965); State ex rel. Arbraugh v. Boles, 149 W.Va. 193, 139 S.E.2d 370 (1964); State ex rel. Browning v. Boles, 149 W.Va. 181, 139 S.E.2d 263 (1964); State ex rel. Stumbo v. Boles, 149 W.Va. 174, 139 S.E.2d 259 (1964); State ex rel. Hicklin v. Boles, 149 W.Va. 163, 139 S.E.2d 182 (1964); State ex rel. May v. Boles, 149 W.Va. 155, 139 S.E.2d 177 (1964). Nonetheless, the majority asserts that the custom and practice of West Virginia in 1962 is subject to debate because good Judge Miller of Roane County typically advised defendants of their right to counsel in 1956. Ante at 1140 n. 5. I do not share the view *1156that the practice of one conscientious judge sheds much light on the custom of guilty pleas in the West Virginia of 1962. Cuppett was not convicted in Roane County before Judge Miller. The fact that the practice of Judge Miller was even worth mentioning in 1956 and today suggests that such a practice was an anomaly. If the custom and practice in West Virginia in 1962 was to advise felony defendants of their right to counsel at government expense before pleading guilty, then the practice of Judge Miller would not be of memorable significance.

. The majority makes much of the fact that the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals stated in Wade that “a waiver must be intelligently made,” but it does not reconcile this statement with the numerous decisions, including Wade itself, which state that the silence of the accused is a valid waiver of counsel. Apparently standing "dumb" was a sign of intelligence in pre-Gideon West Virginia.

. There is no affidavit in the record stating that Cuppett was indigent at the time of the 1962 conviction. However, he does affirmatively claim he was indigent in his original pro se brief, and the arguments that he has made throughout his state and federal court habeas proceedings imply that he was indigent at the time. See Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 92 S.Ct. 594, 30 L.Ed.2d 652 (1972). The State of Indiana and the district court both have assumed that Cuppett was indigent.

. Besides the failure to object to the West Virginia conviction, there is other information in the record suggesting that Cuppett's trial and appellate attorneys gave the habitual offender enhancement less attention than it deserved. They made two other substantial errors with respect to the habitual offender enhancement. Three felonies were presented to the jury as a basis for the habitual offender conviction: the West Virginia conviction and two Illinois convictions. But the two Illinois convictions were part of the same criminal episode. Under Indiana law they are regarded as related, so only one of the convictions can be used as the basis for a habitual offender charge. Neither his trial nor appellate counsel objected to the use of the two Illinois convictions, and the Indiana appellate court later recognized that the failure to object was probably error, though harmless since two supposedly valid convictions (including the West Virginia conviction at issue) remained. Cuppett v. State, 502 N.E.2d 503 (Ind.App.1986). Also, inadvertently attached to the record of the West Virginia conviction that was presented to the jury were prison conduct records and documents pertaining to an escape conviction. Nothing in these attached documents was charged in the information, so they should not have been before the jury. Cuppett v. State, No. 3CR-96-584-360, unpublished findings of fact and conclusions of law at 2 (Superior Ct. Oct. 9, 1985). Once again neither attorney objected.

. Judge Easterbrook’s concurrence suggests that Burgett was thrown into doubt by Lewis v. United States, 445 U.S. 55, 100 S.Ct. 915, 63 L.Ed.2d 198 (1980), and that we therefore cannot expect Cuppett’s counsel at the time to have put much stock in Burgett. According to that concurrence, Lewis held that "in certain instances even un-counseled convictions -may be used as a foundation for a recidivist conviction.” Ante at 1138. Lewis simply held, however, that a defendant in a prosecution for being a felon in possession of a firearm may not collaterally challenge the prior felony conviction. The Court specifically distinguished Burgett on the ground that the uncoun-seled felony conviction in Lewis was not being used to enhance a subsequent sentence but rather was being used to impose a civil firearms disability. Lewis, 445 U.S. at 67, 100 S.Ct. at 922. And as the Court stated, ”[e]nforcement of that essentially civil disability through a criminal sanction does not 'support guilt or enhance punishment’ on the basis of a conviction that is unreliable when one considers Congress’ broad purpose [of keeping firearms from potentially dangerous persons].’’ Id. (quoting Burgett, 389 U.S. at 115, 88 S.Ct. at 262). There is absolutely no reason to believe that Burgett has been undermined in any way by more recent decisions.

.It seems to me that Judge Easterbrook's opinion relies over-much on the sentencing guidelines as a road map for present and future criminal jurisprudence. It is possible, of course, that the guidelines will provide such a chart to the course of criminal procedure. Gideon and Bur-gett, however, have stood the test of time for *1159thirty years. It remains to be seen whether the guidelines will fare as well.

. But see supra note 1.