Opinion ID: 771510
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Fama's Amended Petition

Text: 47 Because Fama moved to amend his petition long after the one-year statute of limitations had run, he was required to show that his amended petition relates back in accordance with Rule 15(c). His amendment includes two putatively new pieces of evidence in support of his claims that the testimony of Tighe and Russo was so unreliable as to require the court to grant his petition for habeas corpus. The first piece of allegedly new evidence is an affidavit by Tighe recanting his trial testimony identifying Fama as the shooter. The second is an affidavit by one Frank Albanese stating that Russo, the jailhouse informant, had admitted to Albanese that he had perjured himself. 10 48 To simplify this case, we will assume arguendo that, pursuant to Rule 15(c), this evidence does relate back to Fama's original petition, and hence that amendment is permissible. 11 Even considering the affidavits, however, we remain unconvinced that habeas relief is justified. Where the government was unaware of a witness' perjury, . . . a new trial is warranted only if the testimony was material and the court [is left] with a firm belief that but for the perjured testimony, the defendant would most likely not have been convicted. United States v. Gallego, 191 F.3d 156, 162 (2d Cir. 1999) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted); see Sanders v. Sullivan, 863 F.2d 218, 226 (2d Cir. 1988)). 49 Neither affidavit Fama offers rises to the level of materiality required by our case law. Ample reasons for disbelieving both Tighe and Russo were given to the jury at trial, making it likely that even without their testimony Fama would have been convicted. Tighe's mental health history and unreliability were fully aired. Similarly, at trial, defense counsel brought out many reasons for the jury to disbelieve Russo -- that he had committed crimes in which he misled gullible people, that he expected and received rewards as a result of his testimony in Fama's trial, and that he had closely followed the case in the newspapers and on television. In addition, the prosecution presented so much substantial evidence of Fama's guilt -- beyond the testimony of Tighe and Russo -- that the absence of their testimony was unlikely to have affected the trial's outcome.