Summary Of The Supreme Court Case Of Brady Vs. Maryland

1. First and foremost, in regards to the case of Brady v. Maryland (1963), prosecuting attorneys withheld information from the courts in the conviction of Brady and Boblit for first degree murder. Boblit had written a confession before the trial stating he had committed the murder on his own, but due to the prosecution withholding exculpatory evidence, Brady was also convicted of the same murder. Brady petitioned the courts and the Supreme Court Ruled in favor of Brady, stating his rights of “due process” had been violated by the state of Maryland. It is from this case that a defendant may request Brady disclosure. Brady disclosure is any evidence that has been withheld that could reduce the sentence or punishment received of the defendant.

Lastly, in United States v. Agurs (1976), a woman was heard by hotel staff yelling and screaming for help. When the staff entered the room, they saw a male on top of the female trying to stab her. When separated, the female left the scene before the police arrived and the male had died from multiple stab wounds to the chest. The woman turned herself in the next day and offered little information to investigators. The police charged her with second degree murder, but her defense argued she had acted in self-defense. The male had cuts to both his wrists and his hands which were determined during autopsy to be defense wounds. The woman was found guilty and sentenced to jail. Later, the defense tried to argue to the courts that the male victim had previous assault charges with weapons and was prone to violence. The court dismissed these findings, as they were not relevant to the case at hand and did not bring any new findings into the case. The defense tried to argue under the grounds that if the jury were to hear about the previous charges, then they might have not found her guilty. This case added to the previous cases in that there was a duty to disclose all exculpatory information even if there was never a request for the