Turner

California state prisoner Robert Turner appeals the district court’s denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Turner argues that the State engaged in purposeful *1250 discrimination in selecting his trial jury. He further claims that the state trial court committed prejudicial error when it allowed the jury to hear the readback of testimony in the absence of the defendant or his counsel.

We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1291 & 2253, and we affirm in part and reverse in part. Although we agree that the readback of testimony was harmless error, we believe that a comparative analysis of a challenged and an unchallenged juror indicates racial discrimination in the jury selection process. Accordingly, we vacate the district court’s denial of Turner’s petition.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

In March 1990, Turner was tried in California Superior Court for first degree felony murder, robbery, and burglary. During jury selection, Turner’s counsel struck 19 prospective jurors, including two African-American men. The prosecutor used five out of the nine peremptory challenges she exercised to exclude African-Americans from the jury. Although she could have…