Court Opinion

ID: 2970398
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2015-09-22 16:11:33.313365+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:01:17.983597
License: Public Domain

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                                                                       panel might have held that the withheld evidence was material
  6DZ\HU¶V FODLPV WR KDEHDV UHOLHI UHVW FKLHIO\ RQ WKH         if we were in the state judges’ shoes, we are not writing on a
H[LVWHQFHRIDVHPHQVWDLQIRXQGRQ0LOOHU¶VXQGHUZHDUWKDW            clean slate in deciding this issue. Because the state court’s
FRQWDLQHG VDOLYD  6DZ\HU PDLQWDLQV WKDW WKLV HYLGHQFH LV      necessary holding that the withheld evidence was not material
UHOHYDQWEHFDXVH0LOOHU³SHUIRUPHGIHOODWLRRQWKHSHUSHWUDWRU         is not contrary to, nor an unreasonable application of, Brady,
DIWHU ZKLFK KH KDQGOHG KHU SDQWLHV ZKLOH WKH YLFWLP ZDV       and because it is not based on an unreasonable determination
EOLQGIROGHG´  -$ , DW   7KH 6WDWH RI 0LFKLJDQ      of the facts, this court is constrained by AEDPA to not grant
FRQWHQGV WKDW WKH SDUWLFXODU IDFWV RI WKH FDVH UHQGHU WKLV    the writ. 86&G
HYLGHQFHLUUHOHYDQWLQDVPXFKDV0LOOHU³WHVWLILHGWKDWVKHZDV
IRUFHGWRVZDOORZ6DZ\HU¶VGLVFKDUJHDQGWKDWKHUXQGHUZHDU               )LUVW IRU ZLWKKHOG HYLGHQFH WR EH PDWHULDO IRU %UDG\
Z>DV@O\LQJRQWKHRWKHUVLGHRIWKHFDUIURPZKHUHWKHDVVDXOW        SXUSRVHV LW PXVW HLWKHU EH DGPLVVLEOH RU OHDG GLUHFWO\ WR
RFFXUUHG´5HVSRQGHQW¶V%U,DW                               DGPLVVLEOHHYLGHQFH6HH8QLWHG6WDWHVY3KLOOLS)G
                                                                         WK &LU  ³information withheld by the
   $WWULDO.\OH$QQ+RVNLQVDODERUDWRU\VFLHQWLVWIRUWKH          prosecution is not material unless the information consists of,
0LFKLJDQ6WDWH3ROLFHVWDWHGGXULQJQRQWHVWLPRQLDOFROORTX\           or would lead directly to, evidence admissible at trial").
WKDW VKH KDG GLVFRYHUHG WUDFHV RI VHPHQ RQ 0LOOHU¶V            However, the state trial court held, both during trial and in
XQGHUZHDUEXWWKDW'HWHFWLYH6HUJHDQW&OLIWRQ/(GZDUGV              post-conviction proceedings, that any evidence of the semen
³(GZDUGV´WKHOHDGLQYHVWLJDWRULQWKHFDVHKDGLQVWUXFWHG         stain in Miller’s underwear was inadmissible pursuant to
KHU WKDW DGGLWLRQDO DQDO\VLV RI WKH VWDLQ ZRXOG QRW EH        Michigan’s rape shield law. See Trial Court Tr. at 614-15;
QHFHVVDU\$FFRUGLQJWRWKHSURVHFXWRU(GZDUGVLQGLFDWHG             J.A. I at 568. If the fact of the stain was inadmissible, then
WKDWWKHVHPHQKDGEHHQGHSRVLWHGE\DER\IULHQG7KHIDFW            clearly any evidence that would have revolved around the
WKDW WKH SROLFH KDG LQ IDFW WHVWHG WKH VHPHQ VWDLQ DJDLQVW   stain (including that it did not come from Sawyer) was also
6DZ\HU¶V EORRG W\SH DQG REWDLQHG D QHJDWLYH UHVXOW ZDV         inadmissible. The majority discounts this fact by stating that
GLVFRYHUHG RQO\ DIWHU GHIHQVH FRXQVHO PDGH D )UHHGRP RI        the trial court was not aware, at the time of its holding, that
,QIRUPDWLRQ$FW³)2,$´UHTXHVWLQWZR\HDUVDIWHUWKH          the stain had been tested and determined not to be from
WULDO6DZ\HUWKHQUDLVHGWKH%UDG\FODLPLQKLVGLUHFWDSSHDO       Sawyer. See Maj. Op. at 9 n.2. However, this fact is
ZKLFKWKHVWDWHFRXUWVUHMHFWHG                                       irrelevant; the trial court refused to permit further testing of
    (YLGHQWLDU\+HDULQJ                                            the underwear on the basis that, regardless of the results of
                                                                       such a test, any introduction of the fact of the semen stain
  6DZ\HUDUJXHVWKDWWKHGLVWULFWFRXUWVKRXOGKDYHKHOGDQ            would violate Michigan’s rape shield law. J.A. I at 564-65,
HYLGHQWLDU\KHDULQJRQWKHQHJDWLYHUHVXOWRIWKHVHPHQVWDLQ          568.
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