Johnny Spain v. Ruth L. Rushen, Director, California Department of Corrections

CYNTHIA HOLCOMB HALL, Circuit Judge:

Ruth Rushen, Director of the California Department of Corrections, appeals from the district court’s grant of a writ of habe-as corpus to Johnny Spain. Rushen contends that the district court erred in determining that the state trial court violated Spain’s constitutional rights by shackling Spain during his criminal trial. We affirm.

I

In 1971, Johnny Spain was imprisoned in San Quentin Prison and was a member of the Black Panther Party.1 Spain was serv*714ing a life sentence for a 1967 conviction for first degree murder. In May of 1971, Spain was transferred to…