The following excerpt is from Dixon v. Southern Pac. Transp. Co., 579 F.2d 511 (9th Cir. 1978):
1 There is of course a fundamental distinction between this type of "secret communication" occurring in a civil as opposed to a criminal trial. In a criminal trial, the defendant has a constitutional right to counsel and to be represented at each stage of the trial. On this basis, we have held that when this type of error occurs in a criminal trial, it requires reversal unless harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Bustamante v. Eyman, 456 F.2d 269 (9th Cir. 1972). The civil trial, however, is not fraught with these constitutional considerations.
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