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

O’SCANNLAIN, Circuit Judge.

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…