In Arnold v. Sec. Dep’t of Corrections, No. 09-11911 (Feb. 8, 2010), the Court adopted the opinion of the district court in the Middle District of Florida granting habeas relief to a Florida inmate who alleged a Brady violation based on undisclosed criminal activity by the police officer who was a primary investigator in his own case.
The district court opinion found no procedural default: it recognized that Arnold’s federal petition “slightly expanded” upon his post-conviction state claims, but the two were “the same Brady claim.”
The opinion rejected the State’s argument that, since the prosecution itself was, like Arnold, unaware of the police officer’s corrupt activities, it could not deemed to have “suppressed” this evidence. The opinion noted that the police officer was part of the “prosecution team,” and therefore his own concealment of his activities sufficed for purposes of establishing a Brady violation. Moreover, impeachment of the police officer based on his activities could have changed the outcome of the trial, because the officer testified against Arnold and provided vital identification testimony. The opinion rejected the argument that the impeachment evidence would not have been admissible, pointing out that it might actually have been unnecessary given the State’s admission that, had it known of the police officer’s activities, it would not have called him as a witness.
