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MADDOX V. MONTGOMERY United States Courts of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit 718 F.2d 1033 (11th Cir. 1983) Facts:

Jimmy Maddox was convicted of rape in a Georgia state court and sentenced to life imprisonment. Having unsuccessfully pursued his direct appeal and the state post-conviction remedy, Maddox filed a federal habeas corpus petition alleging prosecutorial suppression of exculpatory evidence in violation of the …show more content…

Maddox had appealed the denial of habeas relief.

Decision of the Court:
The United States Court of appeals ruled that the suppressed evidence is purely impeaching evidence and no defense request has been made, the suppressed evidence is material only if its introduction probably would have resulted in acquittal. Given a minor role of Phillips' testimony and the limited impact that Phelps statement had on the jury's assessment of Phillips credibility, Maddox could not demonstrate that so the evidence probably would have resulted in an acquittal. Also, the evidence was immaterial under United States V.Blasco; the defendant filed a joint motion to suppress all physical evidence gathered by the officers and any statements made by the defendant. The magistrate found that the defendant did not have to raise a fourth amendment challenge and its suppression did not violate his (Maddox’s) due process right. For ongoing reasons, the district court's dismissal of Maddox's habeas petition was affirmed.

Reasoning of the Court:
The United States Court of Appeals first determined that Brady doctrine did not apply because the Maddox defense team had not requested the information be disclosed. It was only after unsuccessfully pursuing his direct appeal did he bring up this post-conviction habeas corpus petition. In the United States v. Agurs the Court stated that such a failure to

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