Excluding Attorney from Batson Hearing Deemed Harmless: Warden v. Ayala

In Warden v. Ayala the Supreme Court reversed and remanded the decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.  The Court held that any federal constitutional error that may have occurred by excluding Ayala’s attorney from part of a Batson hearing was harmless.  A federal court cannot grant Ayala habeas relief unless the state court’s rejection of his claim was contrary to, or involved an unreasonable application of, clearly established federal law as determined by the Supreme Court, or was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts.