Federal Judiciary

N.D. Fla. Notes Split Re Whether Guilty Plea Waives a Defendant's Claim under Brady

By A. Benjamin Spencer

There is no Supreme Court law that clearly establishes whether a guilty plea waives a defendant's claim under Brady, and the Eleventh Circuit has not decided the issue, see United States v. Matthews, 168 F.3d 1234, 1242 (11th Cir.1999).^FN8

FN8. Other circuits are divided on this issue. Compare Matthew v. Johnson, 201 F.3d 353 (5th Cir.2000) (absent a claim that a prosecutor's failure to disclose exculpatory information rendered a habeas petitioner's plea unknowing or involuntary, Supreme Court precedent does not provide that a prosecutor's non-disclosure prior to entry of a guilty or nolo contendere plea is a Brady violation or otherwise a violation of the Due Process Clause) with Tate v. Wood, 963 F.2d 20 (2d Cir.1992) (guilty plea may be collaterally attacked on grounds that the State failed to disclose material exculpatory information); White v. United States, 858 F .2d 416 (8th Cir.1988) (same); Miller v. Angliker, 848 F.2d 1312 (2d Cir.1988) (same); Campbell v. Marshall, 769 F.2d 314 (6th Cir.1985) (same).

Full post as published by Split Circuits on January 03, 2008 (boomark / email).