Nguyen

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER GRANTING PETITION FOR HABEAS CORPUS

Over five years ago, a Santa Clara County jury convicted petitioner Khoa Dang Nguyen of three counts of first degree murder. A key piece of evidence against Nguyen was his tape-recorded confession to the crime. On direct appeal, the California Court of Appeal ruled that the confession was elicited in violation of Nguyen’s Miranda rights and should not have been admitted at trial. The court nonetheless upheld Nguyen’s conviction on the ground that the admission of the confession was harmless error.

Now pending before this Court is Nguyen’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The question before this Court is not whether Nguyen is guilty or innocent; rather the question is whether the California Court of Appeal’s ruling that the admission of Nguyen’s confession was harmless error was an objectively unreasonable application of clearly established federal law. After reviewing-the papers filed by the parties and the trial transcript, and having had the benefit of oral argument, the Court concludes that the California Court of Appeal’s ruling was objectively unreasonable and, therefore, the petition must be…