Opinion ID: 698663
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Barnes' Bagley Claim: Materiality.

Text: 44 However, I too conclude that Barnes' Bagley claim must fail, but on other grounds. A petitioner in state confinement may assert a claim on federal habeas review only if he or she either has not defaulted the claim in state court, or has shown cause and prejudice for the default. See Wainwright v. Sykes, 433 U.S. 72, 87, 97 S.Ct. 2497, 2506, 53 L.Ed.2d 594 (1977). A petitioner may then prove the merits of his or her claim. To assert a Bagley claim successfully, a petitioner must show that the prosecution violated its duty to disclose exculpatory evidence, and that the evidence was material. See United States v. Bagley, 473 U.S. 667, 669, 105 S.Ct. 3375, 3376, 87 L.Ed.2d 481 (1985); Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 87, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 1196, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963). Materiality under Bagley is a reasonable probability that, had the evidence been disclosed to the defense, the result of the proceeding would have been different. United States v. Bagley, 473 U.S. at 682, 105 S.Ct. at 3382; see also Adams v. Aiken, 965 F.2d 1306, 1314 (4th Cir.1992), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 113 S.Ct. 2966, 125 L.Ed.2d 666 (1993). The majority finds that Barnes has procedurally defaulted his Bagley claim in state court, and that he has shown neither cause nor prejudice for the default. Although the majority is mistaken as to those default issues, I concur in the result reached by the majority because I find that Barnes has failed to prove the materiality prong of his Bagley claim. 45 I would find that Barnes has failed to demonstrate materiality in the instant case, not because the victim's firearm is irrelevant as a matter of course, but because Barnes has failed affirmatively to produce any evidence that he saw the firearm at the time of the shooting. Under R. Smith, the defendant cannot avoid an aggravated battery finding by the mere fact that the victim possessed a gun--the sentencing judge must also find some reasonable belief that the defendant may have shot the victim in response to resistance by the victim. See Va.Code Sec. 19.2-264.4C (Commonwealth must prove aggravating factors beyond a reasonable doubt). Because, on habeas review, it is Barnes' burden to show materiality, he must come forward with evidence that he saw that the victim was armed and resisting. The district court's reasoning, that the presence of the gun would have raised reasonable doubt in the mind of the sentencing judge even if Barnes could not have seen the gun, is not sound law. In conformity with Virginia's Code of Professional Responsibility, Barnes' trial attorney could have argued that the presence of the gun was relevant to vileness only if he believed that Barnes may have seen the gun and reacted to it. See Pt. 6, Sec. II, Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia, Disciplinary Rule 7-102 ([A] lawyer shall not ... [k]nowingly use ... false evidence [or] [k]nowingly make a false statement of law or fact.). Barnes, however, has not presented any evidence that he may have seen the gun, and thus Barnes has failed to carry his burden of showing that there is a reasonable probability that, had the evidence been disclosed to the defense, the result of the proceeding would have been different. Bagley, 473 U.S. at 682, 105 S.Ct. at 3383. 46 In light of my finding that Barnes has not met the materiality prong of his Bagley claim, I need not decide whether he has shown a violation of the duty to disclose the location of the gun. However, in order to respond to the claims made by the majority in its alternate holdings, I discuss the issue briefly. 47