United States Sixth Circuit

A conviction for carjacking and using a firearm during a crime of violence is reversed and remanded where: 1) for purposes of a Brady claim, given the initial uncertainty of the identity of the attacker by all the witnesses, combined with a witness's possible motivation to protect two friends at the expense of someone unknown to her, the opportunity to fully investigate certain phone records may have provided defense counsel valuable evidence to exonerate his client or to at least raise a reasonable doubt as to his guilt; and 2) even if the late disclosure of the cell phone records did not amount to a Brady violation, a denial of a request for a continuance to enable defense counsel to conduct a necessary investigation into the records was an abuse of discretion warranting a new trial.

Appellate Information

• Decided 11/07/2007
• Published 11/07/2007

Judges

• Before:  MERRITT and GRIFFIN, Circuit Judges;  LAWSON, District Judge.

Court

• United States Sixth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• ARGUED:  Edward G. Bryan, Federal Public Defender's Office, Cleveland, Ohio, for Appellant.  Kelly L. Galvin, Assistant United States Attorney, Cleveland, Ohio, for Appellee.   ON BRIEF:  Edward G. Bryan, Vanessa F. Malone, Federal Public Defender's Office, Cleveland, Ohio, for Appellant.  Kelly L. Galvin, Laura McMullen Ford, Assistant United States Attorneys, Cleveland, Ohio, for Appellee.