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Davis: AEDPA bars "actual innocence" claim of death row inmate

By Tim Cone

In In Re Davis, No. 08-16009 (11th Cir. 2009) (2-1, Barkett, J. dissenting), the Court held that Davis failed to meet the statutory requirements of AEDPA for a second or successive habeas petition, and affirmed the district court?s dismissal of his petition that challenged his death sentence for a 1989 murder.In his first federal habeas petition, Davis asserted "actual innocence" as a gateway to present otherwise defaulted constitutional challenges to his Georgia state conviction. After this first petition was denied, Davis brought a second petition, which asserted "actual innocence" as a stand-alone basis for relief, relying on witness recantations and evidence pointing to another culprit.The Court noted that, under AEDPA, the factual predicate for a second or successive petition "could not have been discovered previously...continue to full post

Full post as published by Defense Newsletter Blog on April 17, 2009 (boomark / email).