The following excerpt is from Cooper v. Fitzharris, 551 F.2d 1162 (9th Cir. 1977):
Sanders v. Craven, 488 F.2d 478, at 480 (9th Cir. 1973), teaches that: "(t)he district judge may not circumvent the challenge of denial of effective counsel by, in effect, holding that any error would be harmless and, on that basis, fail to determine whether there has been an impermissible deprivation of Sixth Amendment rights."
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