Opinion ID: 2754415
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: PCRA Court Error

Text: Appellant additionally argues that, in rejecting his claims, the PCRA court misapplied the materiality standard for relief pursuant to Brady and Napue, improperly [J-46-2013] - 17 assessing materiality in terms of whether “after discounting items of evidence tainted by non-disclosure, the remaining evidence is sufficient to support a verdict of guilt,” rather than evaluating whether a reasonable likelihood exists that the non-disclosure would have affected the judgment of the jury, as he contends is required by Napue. Appellant’s Brief at 23. According to Appellant, if the PCRA court had properly applied the materiality standard, it would have found the non-disclosure of the agreements between the prosecution and the Commonwealth witnesses and the motivation for the witnesses’ testimony affected the judgment of the jury, as, according to Appellant, the testimony was damaging in nature and the jury would not have believed it if it knew the witnesses were testifying pursuant to agreements for reduced sentences. Appellant’s argument is largely beside the point. The PCRA court rejected Appellant’s Brady claims based upon its finding that no agreements existed between the Commonwealth and its witnesses, and, thus, that the Commonwealth did not conceal any evidence. Moreover, as we discussed in detail above, even if an agreement existed between prosecutors and O’Donald, its nondisclosure did not affect the judgment of the jury in light of the wealth of significant other evidence implicating Appellant in the murder. Appellant is, thus, not entitled to relief on this claim.