Alford
Alford v. Lizarraga
Opinion
Lead Opinion
Tigar, J.
ORDER GRANTING PETITION FOR WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS
Before the Court is Plaintiff David Patrick Alford’s Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus, EOF No. 18. The government filed an answer to the petition, EOF No. 21, and Alford filed a traverse, ECF No. 26. The Court will grant the petition.
I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
No party before the Court disputes that the state court presiding over David Alford’s murder trial committed federal constitutional error. The California Court of Appeal held, and the government does not dispute, that the state trial court erred by admitting as evidence a pre-trial custodial interrogation of Alford that was conducted in violation of Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 , 86 S.Ct. 1602 , 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). The only question before the Court is whether this error was harmless under Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18 , 87 S.Ct. 824 , 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1967).
Alford’s trial took place in February and March of 2011 in the County of Santa Cruz, based on events that occurred on April 20, 2009. Alford was convicted of second , degree murder on March 18, 2011. Both sides adopt the California Court of Appeal’s statement of the facts: