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695 So. 2d 1340

State v. Walter

Supreme Court of Louisiana

Decided June 20, 1997

Supreme Court of Louisiana · decided 1997-06-20

Cited by 4 later decisions — most recently January 2012

4 state decisions

Key passage — most relied on by later courts

“13a showing of materiality does not require demonstration by a preponderance that disclosure of the suppressed evidence would have resulted ultimately in the defendant’s acquittal (whether based on the presence of a reasonable doubt or acceptance of an explanation for the crime that does not inculpate the defendant). Bag-ley’s, touchstone of materiality is a “reasonable probability” of a different result, and the adjective is important. The question is not whether the defendant would more likely than not have received a different verdict with the evidence, but whether in its absence he received a fair trial, understood as a trial resulting in a verdict worthy of confidence. A “reasonable probability” of a different result is accordingly shown when the government’s evidentiary suppression “undermines confidence in the outcome of trial.””

quoted by 1 later decision, including 698 So. 2d 439 - State v. Walter

Relies on United States v. Bagley · Kyles v. Whitley · State v. Landry

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1997-06-20

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

¶1In re Walter, Sullivan; — Defendant(s); applying for writ of certiorari and/or review; to the Court of Appeal, Fourth Circuit, No. 94KA-2221; Parish of Orleans, Criminal District Court, Div. “J”, No. 315-877.

¶2Granted. This case is remanded to the Fourth Circuit for reconsideration. The correct standard for determining the materiality of the evidence in this case is not the outcome-determinative test provided by La. C.Cr.P. art. 851(3) for the granting of new trials on the basis of newly discovered evidence, i.e., whether the petitioner has shown more probably than not a different result will follow a second trial in which all evidence material to the issue of guilt or punishment is disclosed to the jury. State v. Talbot, 408 So.2d 861, 884 (La.1981) (on rehearing). The untimely disclosure as well as non-disclosure of exculpatory evidence may deprive the defendant of a fair trial. State v. Williams, 448 So.2d 659, 665 (La.1984); State v. Landry, 388 So.2d 699, 702 (La.1980). The correct standard of review in this ease therefore “is not whether the defendant would more likely than not have received a different verdict with the evidence, but whether in its absence he received a fair trial, understood as a trial resulting in a verdict worthy of confidence.” *1341Kyles v. Whitley, 514 U.S. 419, 434, 115 S.Ct. 1555, 1566, 131 L.Ed.2d 490 (1995). On remand, the court of appeal must determine whether as the result of the state’s untimely disclosure, the inability of the defense to place all evidence relevant to the reliability of the victim’s identification testimony “ ‘undermines confidence in the outcome of trial.’” Kyles, 514 U.S. at 434, 115 S.Ct. at 1566 (quoting United States v. Bagley, 473 U.S. 667, 678, 105 S.Ct. 3375, 3381, 87 L.Ed.2d 481 (1984).

TRAYLOR, J., not on panel.
/695/so2d/1340 · .json · Public domain