Alan Medina v. Thomas Hornung, Warden, of Donovan State Prison

Alex Medina (Medina) appeals the district court’s denial of Ms habeas petition. Medina was convicted by a jury in California state court of assault with a deadly weapon (Cal.Penal Code § 245(a)(1)) and felony hit-and-run ( Cal. Vehicle Code § 20001 ).

Medina’s habeas petition challenges certain allegedly prejudicial ex parte statements made by the trial judge to the jury in violation of his constitutional rights to counsel and to be present during trial. The California Court of Appeal found constitutional error but denied relief on harmless error grounds. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2253 . Because the state court’s denial of Medina’s appeal was neither contrary to, nor an unreasonable application of, clearly established federal law, we affirm the district court’s denial of Medina’s habeas petition. Further, we take this opportunity to explain that, for the purpose of the “unreasonable application” clause of 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (d)(1), if a state court disposes of a constitutional error as harmless using an appropriate standard of review, federal courts must examine that disposition for objective unreasonableness without reference to the harmless error test set forth…