Opinion ID: 2487462
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: CBLA Claims

Text: In his first issue on appeal, Wyatt raises four subclaims regarding CBLA evidence that the State proffered through the testimony of FBI Special Agent John Riley at Wyatt's trial in 1991. Specifically, Wyatt argues as follows: (1) the 2008 letter issued by the FBI in this case constitutes newly discovered evidence that would probably produce an acquittal on retrial; (2) because the FBI had knowledge of the flaws in CBLA at the time of Wyatt's trial, the State's knowing presentation of Agent Riley's false testimony violated Giglio; (3) the State's failure to disclose that Agent Riley's testimony was unscientific and unsound violated Brady; and (4) to the extent that defense counsel failed to challenge CBLA as junk science, counsel rendered ineffective assistance under Strickland. For the reasons explained below, we conclude that the 2008 letter clearly qualified as newly discovered evidence; thus, the postconviction court erred in finding that the claim was procedurally barred and that the letter did not constitute newly discovered evidence. Regardless of these errors, we affirm the postconviction court's denial of relief because Wyatt cannot demonstrate that consideration of the letter would probably produce an acquittal on retrial under the newly discovered evidence standard. As to the Brady and Giglio claims, there is no basis for concluding that the State withheld favorable evidence under Brady or knowingly presented false evidence at the original trial under Giglio. After the FBI discovered the errors in the original CBLA evidence introduced at trial, Wyatt was made aware of these errors by letter. Finally, we reject Wyatt's ineffectiveness claim because the record shows that trial counsel retained an independent expert to evaluate the FBI's comparative bullet lead analysis, and the expert provided counsel with no basis to challenge that analysis.