Opinion ID: 167468
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Violation of Brady v. Maryland

Text: Mr. Henderson contends that, in violation of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), the prosecution withheld evidence that LaPreasha Wynne, an exgirlfriend of Mr. Henderson who testified against him, was incarcerated for six -5- months from October 1993 to March 1994. He contends that this evidence is exculpatory impeachment evidence because Ms. Wynne testified at trial that she was involved with Mr. Henderson as part of the continuing criminal enterprise during this period. Based on a review of Ms. Wynne’s testimony, however, it is clear that Mr. Henderson was not prejudiced by any failure to disclose the fact of Ms. Wynne’s incarceration. Brady violations only occur when “the nondisclosure was so serious that there is a reasonable probability that the suppressed evidence would have produced a different verdict.” Strickler v. Greene, 527 U.S. 263, 281 (1999). In this case, evidence of the incarceration was not necessarily exculpatory. At trial, Ms. Wynne never testified as to the specific dates of her trips she took to transport cocaine for Mr. Henderson, but she agreed generally that she made trips in 1994 and the beginning of 1995. She never specifically told the jury that she made trips during late 1993 or early 1994. Her testimony therefore was consistent with Mr. Henderson’s assertion that she was incarcerated only until March 1994. Even if evidence of the incarceration would have undermined testimony by other witnesses concerning Ms. Wynne’s (subsequently retracted) statement to police about 1992 and 1993 drug trips, withholding that evidence could not have prejudiced the verdict because the amended indictment only charged Mr. Henderson for conduct after January 1, 1994. Moreover, in a case where the government produced a litany of witnesses to testify about Mr. -6- Henderson’s drug trafficking, Ms. Wynne was easily the least effective. She testified that she did not know whether Mr. Henderson was in the courtroom, that she did not know whether her previous statement to the police was truthful, and that some of her previous accounts of Mr. Henderson’s drug trafficking activities were entirely fabricated. On cross-examination, she admitted to lying under oath about her trips to California and to telling at least six inconsistent versions of her story to various police and court officers. Yet another piece of impeachment evidence against Ms. Wynne would have made no difference in the verdict. Mr. Henderson has therefore failed to make a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right by reason of a Brady violation.