Opinion ID: 1789590
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Brady v. Maryland

Text: Brady holds that the suppression by the prosecution of evidence favorable to an accused upon request violates due process where the evidence is material either to guilt or to punishment, irrespective of the good faith or bad faith of the prosecution. Brady, 373 U.S. at 87, 83 S.Ct. 1194. There are three components of a true Brady violation: The evidence at issue must be favorable to the accused, either because it is exculpatory, or because it is impeaching; that evidence must have been suppressed by the State, either willfully or inadvertently; and prejudice must have ensued. Strickler v. Greene, 527 U.S. 263, 281-82, 119 S.Ct. 1936, 144 L.Ed.2d 286 (1999). According to Brady, due process requires the prosecution to disclose evidence in its possession that is favorable to the accused and material to guilt or punishment. Goodwin, 43 S.W.3d at 812. Not before this Court is the question of interpreting the scope of the terms government agents or possession used in the Brady case law. In Kyles v. Whitley, 514 U.S. 419, 437, 115 S.Ct. 1555, 131 L.Ed.2d 490 (1995), the Supreme Court held that the individual prosecutor has a duty to learn of any favorable evidence known to the others acting on the government's behalf in the case, including the police. Several federal courts have examined whether the government includes governments of other states or may be limited to government agents connected with the prosecuting body. See, e.g., United States v. Jones, 34 F.3d 596, 599 (8th Cir.1994) ( Brady requires the prosecution to disclose to the defendant only evidence in the prosecution's possession ... The government has no `affirmative duty ... to take action to discover information which it does not possess.' ... There is, therefore, no Brady violation if the government does not `possess' the material at issue. In addition, the `prosecutor has no duty to undertake a fishing expedition in other jurisdictions in an effort to find impeaching evidence.') (internal citations omitted). Although Brady informs this Court's judgment and states a basis for a finding of denial of due process, the law subject to interpretation here is Rule 25.03, which governs disclosure requirements in criminal proceedings.