United States v. David W. Smith

U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
United States v. David W. Smith, 85 F.3d 646 (D.C. Cir. 1996)
318 U.S. App. D.C. 80; 1996 WL 284787

United States v. David W. Smith

Opinion

Opinion for the Court filed PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM:

Contrary to the Government’s suggestion, the panel’s opinion in United States v. Smith, 77 F.3d 511 (D.C.Cir. 1996), does not hold that a court may not consider the weight of the untainted evidence presented at trial when performing a materiality analysis pursuant to United States v. Bagley, 473 U.S. 667, 105 S.Ct. 3375, 87 L.Ed.2d 481 (1985) and Kyles v. Whitley, — U.S. -, 115 S.Ct. 1555, 131 L.Ed.2d 490 (1995). Rather, the court did no more than determine that the Brady violation at issue here created “a reasonable probability that, had the evidence been disclosed to the defense, the result of the proceeding would have been different.” Kyles, — U.S. at -, 115 S.Ct. at 1565 (quoting Bagley, 473 U.S. at 682, 105 S.Ct. at 3383. (Opinion of Blackmun, J.)). In other words, because the members of the panel could not say that, absent the undisclosed evidence, defendant “received a fair trial, understood as a trial resulting in a verdict worthy of confidence,” id. at 1566, the matter was reversed and remanded for a new trial.

In short, there is nothing in the panel opinion that intends to foreclose the court from considering the overall strength of the Government’s case in making decisions on materiality. The panel’s analysis follows directly from the applicable Supreme Court precedent, and there is no issue justifying rehearing. Therefore, the Government’s petition for rehearing is

Denied.

Reference

Full Case Name
UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. David W. SMITH, Appellant
Cited By
2 cases
Status
Published