In Scott v. United States, Nos. 15-11377, 16-11950 (May 23, 2018) (Rosenbaum, Jill Pryor, Bartle), the Court held that second-or-successive Brady claims are always subject to the gatekeeping criteria in 2255(h), even if the petitioner could not have reasonably discovered the basis of the claim sooner, and there is a reasonable probability that timely disclosure would have resulted in an acquittal.
The Court reluctantly determined that this outcome was dictated by its prior precedent, which reached that same conclusion in the state-prisoner context of 2254. However, in a lengthy analysis, the Court opined that this prior precedent was incorrect, conflicted with Supreme Court precedent and the Suspension Clause, and improperly rewarded the government for its unfair prosecution, thereby undermining the justice system. In the Court's view, an actionable Brady claim that a diligent petitioner could not have reasonably been expected to discover should not be considered "second or successive," and thus should not be subject to the stringent gatekeeping criteria. The panel urged the full Court to convene en banc in order to reconsider its prior precedent to the contrary. The Court also concluded that counsel was not ineffective for failing to investigate further after taking the government at its word that it had produced all Brady material; the Court, however, did not foreclose the possibility of ineffective assistance of counsel where obvious red flags call the government's assurance into question.
