Opinion ID: 779465
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Entrapment and Brady

Text: 27 Next, without actually attempting to tie the claim to the issue of timeliness, defendant continues to argue that he was entrapped by the government informant and that the government's failure to disclose Brady material concerning an entrapment defense invalidated his plea. Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963). To the extent that defendant claims that the failure to turn over evidence was an impediment that prevented him from bringing his § 2255 motion within one year of the date that his conviction became final, we cannot agree. 28 A voluntary and unconditional guilty plea generally waives any non-jurisdictional claims that arose before the plea, including the defense of entrapment. See United States v. Broce, 488 U.S. 563, 569, 109 S.Ct. 757, 102 L.Ed.2d 927 (1989); Tollett v. Henderson, 411 U.S. 258, 267, 93 S.Ct. 1602, 36 L.Ed.2d 235 (1973). Apparently aware of this bar, defendant challenges the plea as a product of the alleged Brady violation. In support of his Brady claim, defendant states that Buckley, who he had met while serving a federal sentence on an earlier drug charge, pressured him into selling a kilogram of cocaine. According to defendant, Buckley began asking him to get a kilogram of cocaine in 1988. Buckley allegedly made at least 25 telephone calls to defendant and six trips from Cincinnati to Lorain, Ohio, a distance of 230 miles, to plead with defendant to get cocaine for him. Defendant claims he finally gave in after his mother died in February 1989. Defendant complains that the $30,000 that Buckley brought to his house had been provided by the FBI. 29 While there is no general constitutional right to discovery in a criminal case, Brady imposes a duty on the prosecution to disclose to a defendant evidence that is both favorable to him and material to his guilt or punishment. Kyles v. Whitley, 514 U.S. 419, 115 S.Ct. 1555, 131 L.Ed.2d 490 (1995); United States v. Todd, 920 F.2d 399, 404 (6th Cir.1990). 5 Because Brady is concerned only with cases in which the government possesses information that defendant does not have, the government's failure to disclose potentially exculpatory information does not violate Brady where a defendant `knew or should have known the essential facts permitting him to take advantage of any exculpatory information' or where the evidence is available to defendant from another source. United States v. Clark, 928 F.2d 733, 738 (6th Cir.1991) (quoting United States v. Grossman, 843 F.2d 78, 85 (2d Cir.1988)). See also Todd, 920 F.2d at 405. It is apparent from defendant's allocution at sentencing that he was aware of the essential facts that serve as the basis for the claims of entrapment and the failure to disclose exculpatory evidence related to the claim of entrapment. As a result, defendant has not shown that an impediment created by governmental action prevented him from bringing his § 2255 motion within one year of the date that his conviction became final.