Facts:
Appellant Jimmy Maddox was convicted of raping Kathy Elder and sentenced to life in prison by a Georgia state court. Maddox had unsuccessfully sought out to overturn his conviction by direct appeal. After the denial of the appeal, he filed for a federal habeas corpus petition stating that his rights for due process had been violated in accordance with the doctrines of Brady v. Maryland. According to the appellant the violation occurred because the state withheld several pieces of exculpatory evidence during his case. Success in the case is using one of the doctrines of the Brady case has to establish the materiality of the suppressed exculpatory evidence.

Issue:
The appellant contended that violation of his due process rights occurred when the prosecution failed to disclose not only a photograph taken by police shortly after the alleged rape showing that the victim’s bed was neatly made, but also a police examination showing that there was no bodily fluids of any kind found on the bedspread. Also there was a written statement submitted by Brenda Phelps who stated that Debbie Phillips had dropped her insurance with the appellant due to financial reasons.

Decision of the Court: …show more content…
Because Phillip’s testimony only played a minor role and Phelps’s statement had a limited impact on the jury’s view of Phillip’s credibility, the appellant was unable to prove that the evidence would have resulted in an acquittal. Under the United States v. Blasco the evidence was immaterial and the suppression of the evidence did not violate Maddox’s rights of due process. There was also an appeal filed by Maddox for the denial of habeas relief. Since Maddox’s habeas petition was dismissed the district court’s decision is