THE SUPREME COURT REVERSES DEATH PENALTY FOR FAILURE OF THE TENNESSEE COURTS TO GIVE DEFENDANT A FAIR HEARING ON BRADY ISSUE

The Supreme Court on a writ of habeas corpus reversed a sentence of death in a Tennessee case based upon the failure of the prosecutor to comply with the requirements of Brady v. Maryland Brady required prosecutors to provide discovery of all ameliorating evidence in their possession or the possession of investigating police departments.

In Cone v. Bell, Warden the question was not whether the prosecutor had complied with Brady. All agreed it had not. But the question was whether the matter had gotten a fair hearing in the state courts and whether the failure to provide Brady discovery affected Cone’s right to a fair trial and sentencing under the Fourteenth Amendment. The Supreme Court found that the Tennessee court had not given Cone a fair hearing on the Brady issue. In fact the Tennessee courts had never considered the issue on its merits. At various times the Tennessee courts had ruled that Cone was not entitled to a hearing on the merits since he had already had a hearing and conversely that he had waived a hearing on the issue.

On August 10, 1980 Cone robbed a jewelry store in Memphis. He then led the police on a high speed chase. Eventually he abandoned the car and shot a police officer. Next he shot a bystander that attempted to aid in his arrest. He then tried to hijack another vehicle but he failed since he was out of ammunition. The next morning he tried to use his gun to get into the house of an elderly woman but she slammed the door and called the police. That afternoon he beat to death an elderly couple and ransacked their house. He was arrested several days later in Pompano Beach, Florida after robbing a drug store.

At trial he did not deny any of the incidents. Instead his counsel argued that he committed the crime while insane as a result of extreme amphetamine use. The state easily refuted the evidence and the jury found him guilty on all counts.

On direct appeal Cone raised a number of issues including the state’s failure to disclose a tape and some police reports. The Tennessee Supreme Court denied each of his claims. He filed a habeas with the primary grounds being incompetence of counsel. Again the court denied it. He filed a second habeas in pro per. While his petition was pending the Tennessee courts ruled that criminal defendants had the right to review their prosecutorial files. The trial court denied his petition but the appellate court appointed counsel and allowed him to file an amended petition. For the first time he was allowed to see his file and discover that their were a number of documents in it that had not been disclosed and that would have helped prove his drug use and his insanity. But the amended second petition was also denied by the Tennessee courts. They found that even if the discovery had been provided it would not have prevented his conviction. But they did not consider the effect that the discovery might have had on the jury’s finding of death.

The Supreme Court agreed that the discovery would not have affected the conviction but it found that if the discovery had been provided it might have affected the finding of death and it sent the case back to the Tennessee courts for a determination of whether the missing discovery would have affected the finding of death.