Keys

MEMORANDUM **

Dairy Bernard Keys, a California state prisoner, challenges his 1996 convictions for assault with a firearm, willful infliction of corporal injury upon a cohabitant, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and use of a deadly or dangerous weapon in the commission of a felony. In this petition for a writ of habeas corpus, Keys argues that he was denied effective assistance of counsel and that there was juror misconduct in connection with a pretrial conversation he had with a prospective juror who was subsequently seated on the jury.

Keys brought the episode to the attention of the state trial court on a post-trial motion for a new trial on the ground of juror bias. The court conducted an evidentiary inquiry, and two versions of the facts were presented. Under the defendant’s version, the juror indicated bias. But according to the juror’s account, the conversation did not reflect any bias on the part of the juror.

Under clearly established law, a finding that a juror was actually biased entitles the defendant to a new trial. See Dyer v. Calderon, 151 F.3d 970 , 973 n. 2 (9th Cir.1998)(en banc). The state court concluded that it could find no grounds for a…