United States Ninth Circuit

The district court's denial of a habeas corpus petition challenging petitioner's conviction for murder on the grounds that his rights were violated under Brady v. Maryland when the prosecution failed to disclose material information that would have enabled defense counsel to impeach the credibility of a critical witness, is reversed, where: 1) the Court of Appeal's decision that petitioner had not established that the evidence was newly discovered was an unreasonable determination of the facts; 2) the Court of Appeal's requirement of due diligence was contrary to, or involved an unreasonable application of, clearly established federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court of the United States; and 3) reviewing the constitutionality of the petitioner's conviction and, specifically, his Brady claim de novo, the prosecution had a Brady obligation to produce the witness' conviction and probation records and the evidence was material, rendering the government's failure to disclose it prejudicial. (Superseding opinion)

Appellate Information

• Decided 07/11/2014
• Published 07/11/2014

Judges

• HELLERSTEIN

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel