9th Cir.
11-35338

The court of appeals vacated a district court order dismissing a habeas petition and remanded the action for further proceedings. The court held that a federal habeas petitioner’s Confrontation Clause claim was not procedurally defaulted where it was plausible, in light of a state appellate court’s ambiguous, summary affirmance of his conviction, that the state appellate court decided the claim on the merits rather than on the basis of procedural default.