Percy Jones, Sr. v. Eddie Meyer

Percy Jones was tried and convicted of first-degree murder and robbery in Alame-da County Superior Court, and was sentenced to a term of life imprisonment with the possibility of parole. As a security measure during the six-week long trial, the trial judge ordered petitioner to be handcuffed to his wheelchair during the proceedings. Jones now appeals the district court’s denial of his petition for habeas corpus relief. He argues: (1) that this security measure compromised his presumption of innocence and caused him pain, thereby denying him a fair trial in violation of the due process clause; and (2) that the district court’s factual findings about the trial court’s decision to shackle petitioner, based on the transcript of an evidentiary hearing ordered by the district court, are not entitled to a presumption of correctness, since the court at trial erred by not making explicit findings known to petitioner and allowing him an opportunity to contest their validity. We affirm.

I

We review a trial court’s decision to shackle a defendant under an abuse of discretion standard. Spain v. Rushen, 883 F.2d 712, 716 (9th Cir.1989). But we review de novo the district court’s ultimate…