Ryan Bui v. Anthony Hedgpeth

MEMORANDUM

Ryan Bui appeals the district court’s denial of his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition for habeas corpus. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and affirm.

1. The California Court of Appeal reasonably determined that the exclusion of Bui’s family and friend from a brief portion of the voir dire proceedings was a “de minimis” violation of the Sixth Amendment right to a public trial. See United States v. Rivera, 682 F.3d 1223, 1229 (9th Cir.2012) (stating that reversal is not required for “trivial” violations of right to public trial).

2. The Court of Appeal’s factual determinations were not unreasonable in light of the evidence presented in the state court proceedings. 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (d)(2). With respect to Bui’s particular factual arguments:

a. The Court of Appeal did not find that the exclusion of Bui’s spectators was “inadvertent.”

b. The Court of Appeal was not required to make a factual finding on the “relative importance of voir dire generally.” See Taylor v. Maddox, 366 F.3d 992, 1001 (9th Cir.2004) (holding that a failure to make a factual finding supports a grant of habeas corpus when that finding “goes to a material factual issue that is central to…