Reference no: EM133209976

Question - Franklin Harris, a small-time drug dealer and local gang member, is having a get-together at his apartment. People are outside on his back porch partying. During the course of the party, Sally Martin becomes pretty intoxicated. At one point, John Smith starts trying to get friendly with her. People don't really notice what's going on, but ultimately, Smith rips Martin's shirt. She runs out of the party crying down the street to her cousin's house. She tells her cousin, Zach Klein, about what happened. Klein, along with his friend, Joe Gibson, walk down to the party armed with handguns.

Once in the backyard, they start arguing with Smith. A fight breaks out among several people and gun shots erupt. Klein and an innocent bystander are killed during the shooting. Two persons who attend the party (Franklin Morris and Leanne Bayer) say they saw Smith shooting at Klein and Gibson. A gun is recovered at the scene and eight shell casings are also found. The shell casings are not tested to see if they are were fired by the gun found at the scene. DNA is also not collected from the recovered gun. Other partygoers say that more than one person was shooting at the party. A gun is found lying underneath Klein. In the clip of the firearm, it is missing three bullets. Both guns recovered at the scene are 9mm. Police assume that during a shoot-out between Klein and Smith, Klein was killed. It seemed to fit with what witnesses said about multiple shooters. The 9mm handgun underneath Klein is never tested with any of the spent shell casings.

During the investigation, homicide Detective Jacobs receives an anonymous phone message. The person says, "Carter Stewart is the one who killed Klein and that girl." Detective Jacobs makes some inquiries about whether Stewart was at the party. Word on the street is that Stewart was at the party. Then Detective Jacobs also finds that Stewart has an extensive criminal record and is a rival gang member to Klein and Gibson.

John Smith is ultimately arrested on a murder warrant in Spokane, Washington and has to be extradited to Ohio. When Detective Jacobs interviews John Smith, he asks him why he ran to Spokane. Smith said he knew there was a warrant out for his arrest. Smith is ultimately tried before a jury and is convicted of both murders. He is sentenced to 48 to life in prison. During his trial, both eyewitnesses testify that Smith was the shooter. The jury also hears about Smith fleeing to Spokane, and the prosecution argues that flight is an admission of guilt. The information about Carter Stewart is never turned over to Smith's attorneys.

Ten years after his conviction, the Innocence Project (IP) takes up John Smith's case. They interview Leanne Bayer, who ultimately says she did not actually see who was shooting and she was pressured by people to say it was Smith. IP attorneys get other affidavits from partygoers that say that Bayer was inside the apartment when the shooting occurred outside. After the entire Smith file is turned over to IP attorneys, they find written notes from Detective Jacobs that Carter Stewart could have been a possible suspect. In addition, they find an audio recording of the anonymous caller message about Carter Stewart.

IP attorneys successfully argue to an appellate court that the spent shell casings and the firearm be tested. Ballistic experts find the following.

Ballistics Finding One

Of the spent shell casings, three of the eight were fired by the 9mm handgun allegedly fired by John Smith.

Ballistics Finding Two

Of the spent shell casings, none of the eight were fired by the 9mm handgun found under Klein.

IP attorneys also successfully argue to an appellate court for the gun allegedly fired by John Smith to be tested for DNA. The DNA results are as follows.

DNA Finding One

There is a mixture of DNA (meaning more than one person's DNA) present on the handle and trigger of the 9mm handgun.

DNA Finding Two

John Smith can be excluded as a contributor of the DNA mixture on the handle and trigger of the 9mm handgun.

DNA Finding Three

IP attorneys find that in Ohio, persons who are arrested and slated in a local jail must submit to DNA collection. A year after the shooting and John Smith's conviction at trial, Carter Stewart is arrested and held in the jail in Ohio. His DNA was collected.

IP attorneys successfully argue to an appellate court that Carter Stewart's DNA be tested with the DNA collected from the 9mm handgun.

DNA Expert Findings and Conclusion

Carter Stewart's DNA is present on the handle and trigger of the 9mm handgun.

1. What is a Brady violation?

2. What is a Habeas post-conviction petition?

3. Are there potential Brady violations that need to be pursued if you were an IP attorney? What are they, and why?

4. Does new evidence exist that may or may not support a Habeas Corpus action on behalf of John Smith?