Gonzales v. Thaler, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 11965

Gonzales was convicted by a Texas jury of a 1999 armed robbery after a lengthy eyewitness/ alibi battle.
Evidence included eyewitness identifications and various alibi confirmations, plus an arrest warrant affidavit admitted at trial.
The warrant affidavit contained hearsay statements about identifications and concluded with Detective Mar's belief that Gonzales committed the offense.
Gonzales challenged the warrant affidavit's admission as denial of due process and later pursued federal habeas relief after state proceedings.
The state appellate court found error in admitting the hearsay but held it harmless and did not address federal due process as a merits issue.
The district court denied relief but granted a certificate of appealability on the due process claim, which the Fifth Circuit reviewed de novo for that claim.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the warrant affidavit's admission violated due process	Gonzales contends the affidavit's statements and the officer's belief tainted the trial.	Thaler argues the evidence did not render the trial fundamentally unfair and the error was harmless.	No due process violation; not fundamentally unfair.

Estelle v. McGuire, 502 U.S. 62 (U.S. 1991) (constitutional error requires due process analysis)
Darden v. Wainwright, 477 U.S. 168 (U.S. 1986) (non-constitutional error standard for prejudicial impact)
Gonzales v. State, 2002 WL 122867 (Tex. Ct. App.) (state-law harmless-error standard before federal review)
King v. State, 953 S.W.2d 266 (Tex. Crim. App. 1997) (harmless error standard in state rulings)
Little v. Johnson, 162 F.3d 855 (5th Cir. 1998) (federal review of habeas facts and duty to honor AEDPA standards)
Pemberton v. Collins, 991 F.2d 1218 (5th Cir. 1993) (due-process considerations in evaluating trial errors)
Guidroz v. Lynaugh, 852 F.2d 832 (5th Cir. 1988) (cumulative-error and due-process considerations)