Charles Franklin Murdoch, Junior v. Roy A. Castro, Warden Attorney General of the State of California

. Petitioner Charles Murdoch appeals the denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 . Murdoch challenges the district court’s decision that the California trial court’s attorney-client privilege ruling, which barred him from seeing or using a purportedly exculpatory letter written by a government witness to the witness’s lawyer, did not deprive him of his constitutional right to cross-examination guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment’s Confrontation Clause.

We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2253 . We vacate the order of the district court denying Murdoch’s petition, and remand the ease for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I

Standard of Review

We review the district court’s denial of Murdoch’s § 2254 habeas petition de novo. Bribiesca v. Galaza, 215 F.3d 1015, 1018 (9th Cir.2000). Under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AED-PA), § 2254 petitions “shall not be granted with respect to any claim that was adjudicated on the merits in. State court proceedings unless the adjudication of the claim — (1) resulted in a.decision that was contrary to, or involved an .unreasonable application of, clearly…