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." Here, Davis was aware of the factual predicate – except for one new affidavit, which the Court found insufficient to negate the evidence supporting the jury’s verdict of guilt. The Court noted that AEDPA does not provide that actual innocence claims, standing alone, can support a second habeas petition: the statute requires a showing of a constitutional violation as well. Further, even if the statute allowed such claims, here Davis’ evidence did not suffice to establish, as the statute required, that "no reasonable fact-finder would have found the applicant guilty." The Court noted that "recantations are viewed with extreme suspicion by the courts."
