Opinion ID: 77172
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Moo Youngs' Life Insurance Policies

Text: 84 Finally, Maharaj alleges that the State withheld evidence the Moo Youngs had recently purchased large life insurance policies. The Florida Supreme Court found, however, that the policies, which were taken out several months before the murders, were not exculpatory because there has been no showing that this evidence tends to negate the conviction or the sentence, and [m]ore importantly, that the disclosure of the policies would not have put the case in so different a light as to undermine confidence in the verdict. Maharaj III, 778 So.2d at 953-54. The district court agreed, concluding that the evidence was not exculpatory, that any arguments based on that evidence (or other evidence that may have been discovered as a result of knowing about the policies) was too speculative to have altered the outcome, and that it could not have been used to impeach the State's primary witnesses. 85 Our analysis concerning the life insurance policies is similar to the one that governed the contents of the Moo Youngs' briefcase. Maharaj's argument, that the Moo Youngs were involved in shady dealings to the point that they were concerned about their own well-being, and, therefore, executed substantial life insurance policies, is even more speculative than his argument concerning the other contents of the briefcase. The existence of the insurance policies in no way refutes any of the physical evidence and does not impeach any of the State's witnesses. The Florida Supreme Court's resolution of this Brady claim was altogether reasonable. 86 The state post-conviction trial court also considered the cumulative effect of the evidence, and found that there was no reasonable probability that had the evidence been disclosed to the defense, the result of the proceedings would have been different. The district court agreed and so do we. 87 We have carefully reviewed the Brady items and readily conclude that there is no reasonable probability, had all of the items been disclosed to the defense, the result of the proceedings would have been any different. There was ample evidence of motive, and significant physical evidence tying Petitioner to the room where the murders occurred. The State's eyewitness, Neville Butler, never wavered as to the most important part of his testimony, describing Maharaj's brutal attacks on the Moo Youngs, and that testimony was corroborated by physical and ballistic evidence. None of the alleged Brady items calls into question that portion of Butler's testimony, and none refutes any of the physical evidence. Moreover, Neville Butler was significantly impeached by Petitioner's trial counsel, who extracted numerous admissions from Butler concerning the lies he told at various points throughout this case. Again, the Florida courts' disposition of this claim was neither contrary to nor an unreasonable application of clearly established federal law.