Rare Confrontation Clause Winner

Vasquez v. Jones, No. 04-2274
Denial of a petition for a writ of habeas corpus is reversed and remanded with instructions to grant the petition where: 1) petitioner established that the state court violated his Confrontation Clause right to impeach a witness' credibility with his criminal record; 2) the state court's resolution of this claim represents an unreasonable application of Supreme Court Confrontation Clause jurisprudence; and 3) the error was not harmless under the Brecht standard