Cordova v. Baca

346 F.3d 924 Henry Lee CORDOVA, Petitioner-Appellee, v. Leroy BACA, Sheriff of Los Angeles County; Deanne Myers, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge; Steven Cooley, Los Angeles District Attorney; Bill Lockyer, Attorney General of California, Respondents-Appellants. No. 02-55713. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted January 14, 2003 — Pasadena, California. Filed October 6, 2003. Matthew G. Monforton, Deputy District Attorney, Los Angeles, California, argued for the respondents-appellants. Steve Cooley, District Attorney of Los Angeles County, George M. Palmer, Head Deputy District Attorney, and Brentford J. Ferriera, Deputy District Attorney, joined him on the briefs. Ronald S. Smith, Los Angeles, California, argued for the petitioner-appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California; Lourdes G. Baird, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CV-01-01959-LGB. Before: Cynthia Holcomb HALL, Alex KOZINSKI and Johnnie B. RAWLINSON, Circuit Judges. OPINION KOZINSKI, Circuit Judge: 1 We must evaluate under AEDPA a state court's decision to apply harmless error review where a criminal defendant was not represented by…