In In re Conklin, No. 05-13817 (July 12, 2005), the Court (Edmondson, Barkett, Wilson) (2-1, Barkett, J., dissenting), denied the habeas petition of a Georgia inmate facing execution.
Conklin sought to justify bringing a second habeas petition on the ground that "new evidence," in the form of a medical examiner’s opinion, was suppressed at his trial. The Court rejected this argument, finding that even in light of this evidence Conklin could not have met AEDPA’s stringent test of showing that no reasonable factfinder would have imposed the death penalty. The Court further noted that Conklin could in fact have presented this "new evidence" in his first habeas petition.
The Court expressed "misgivings" about the trial court’s constraints on the defense’s ability to prepare for trial and to obtain an expert witness, but found that it could not rule for Conklin without further guidance from the Supreme Court on the scope of a defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to expert assistance in putting on a defense of self-defense.
