Osa Inthavong v. Anthony Lamarque, Warden Bill Lockyer, Attorney General

In this appeal from the denial of a petition for writ of habeas corpus, we must decide whether the admission of an allegedly coerced confession in the state court trial was prejudicial error.

I

On the evening of September 12, 1998, a white Honda Civic slowly passed some partygoers standing outside a San Diego area home. One partygoer kicked the car. Several hours later, the same Honda returned in the company of several other cars. A group of twenty to thirty Asian males exited these cars and started to beat an individual named Dobson, apparently at random. One of the group, named “Clumsy”, fired a gun at Dobson several times.

Dobson was pronounced dead on arrival at a local hospital. He had two gunshot wounds in the chest, a skull fracture, puncture wounds (probably from a screwdriver), and had been beaten (probably with a metal pipe or a baseball bat).

Later that night, at 1:15 AM, police spotted a white -Honda Civic, whose plates matched witness descriptions, parked with another car that also matched witness descriptions. The white Honda Civic eluded pursuit.

The police then went to the address at which the white Honda Civic was registered and found the car. While the…