Brady v. Maryland case brief

Brady v. Maryland case brief summary
373 U.S. 83 (1963)

CASE SYNOPSIS

Certiorari was granted to a decision of the Court of Appeals of Maryland to consider whether petitioner was denied a federal right when the appeals court restricted its grant of a new murder trial to the question of punishment, leaving the determination of guilt undisturbed. The appeals court granted a retrial after holding that suppression of evidence by the state violated petitioner's rights under the Due Process Clause, U.S. Constitutional Amendment XIV.

CASE FACTS
A judgment granting petitioner a new murder trial that was restricted to the issue of punishment was affirmed. After petitioner was convicted of murder and sentenced to death, he learned that the State withheld a statement in which another individual admitted the actual homicide.

DISCUSSION

• The Court held that suppression of evidence favorable to an accused upon request violated the Due Process Clause, U.S. Constitutional Amendment XIV, where the evidence was material to guilt or punishment, regardless of the State's good or bad faith. 
• The suppression of evidence violated petitioner's due process rights and required a retrial on the sentence. 
• The Court held, however, that it could not assume that if the suppressed evidence had been used at the first trial, the ruling that the statement was inadmissible as to guilt might have been disregarded by the jury. 
• In Maryland, it was the trial court, not the jury, which ruled on the admissibility of evidence relating to guilt. 
• The appeals court's statement that nothing in the suppressed confession could have reduced petitioner's offense below a first degree murder was a ruling on the admissibility of the confession as to the issue of innocence or guilt.

CONCLUSION
The judgment granting petitioner a new trial restricted to the issue of punishment was affirmed where the suppression of evidence by the state violated petitioner's right to due process of law and required a retrial on the sentence. The Court held, however, that the appeals court had ruled the suppressed confession was inadmissible as to the issue of petitioner's guilt.



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