Maddox V Montgomery

Case Brief

Maddox v Montgomery

United States Court of Appeals,

Eleventh Circuit 718 F.2d 1033

(11th Cir. 1983)

Facts:

Jimmy Maddox was convicted of rape in a Georgia state court and sentenced to life in prison. Having unsuccessfully pursued his direct appeal and the state post-conviction remedy, he filed a federal habeas corpus petition alleging prosecutorial suppression of exculpatory evidence in violation of the doctrine of Brady v Maryland (Ingram 749). Listed in the last paragraph on pg. 749 you can see the four types of situations in which the Brady doctrine applies. In order to prevail on a Brady claim one must establish the materiality of the exculpatory information suppressed by the prosecution.

Issue:

Maddox asserted that his right to due process was violated by the state's failure to disclose a photograph taken by the police shortly after the alleged raped showing elders bed neatly made, along with the results of a police examination of the bedspread which revealed no blood, semen , or other bodily fluid, and last a written statement by Brenda Phelps, another witness, who claimed that Debbie Philips had stated she dropped her insurance she had with Maddox due to financial