Opinion ID: 462902
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The 'Newly Discovered Evidence'

Text: 16 The next argument advanced by petitioner is stated as follows: 17 The trial court's ruling at petitioner's hearing on petitioner's motion for a new trial was arbitrary and capricious, denying petitioner his right to a full and fair hearing as required by Michigan and federal law, thus depriving petitioner of his right to due process. 18 Petitioner's Brief at 29. Before addressing this argument, we will briefly review the relevant facts before the state trial court. Petitioner's motion for a new trial was based on evidence relevant to guilt or innocence which petitioner alleged was newly discovered. The state trial court, after reviewing affidavits supporting the motion, held that the evidence was not newly discovered. The trial court held that, moreover, even if considered newly discovered, the evidence was tantamount to a recanting affidavit by petitioner's co-defendant and thus not sufficient to support a motion for a new trial. See People v. Williams, 77 Mich. App. 119, 132, 258 N.W.2d 68 (1977). 19 Exactly what 'ruling' petitioner challenges is not clear from his brief. At least two possibilities are present. First, petitioner addresses the trial court's refusal to call the affiants back so that 'a fair evaluation of the . . . witnesses' testimony' could be made. Second, petitioner discusses at some length the trial court's ruling that the evidence did not qualify as newly discovered under state law. After discussing these rulings, petitioner states, without supporting authority, that '[i]f a witness who has not testified at trial offers evidence that meets all of the criteria for newly discovered evidence under the law of the state and that evidence is still ruled imcompetent [sic] by a trial court, without basis in law or fact, then that ruling violates defendant's due process right to a fair evaluation of his evidence.' Petitioner's Brief at 31 (emphasis in original). 20 We disagree. Even if, as petitioner asserts, the evidence meets all the state law criteria for newly discovered evidence, it has long been held that 'the existence merely of newly discovered evidence relevant to the guilt of a state prisoner is not ground for relief on federal habeas corpus.' Townsend v. Sain, 372 U.S. 293, 317, 83 S. Ct. 745, 759 (1963). Thus, newly discovered evidence of this type 'does not render the conviction void and subject to collateral attack by habeas corpus because it goes to the merits of the conviction, not its legality.' Shaver v. Ellis, 255 F.2d 509, 511 (5th Cir. 1958), quoted in, Drake v. Francis, 727 F.2d 990 (11th Cir. 1984).