Criminal Procedure keyed to Kamisar
United States v. Bagley
Facts
Respondent, Bagley, was indicted in violation of federal narcotics and firearms statutes. Before trial, respondent filed a discovery motion, requesting whether any governmental witnesses had been compensated, in any way, for their testimony. The government replied that they had not. Two of the government’s witnesses, O’Conner and Mitchell were state law enforcement officers who had been working undercover to assist the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. At trial, Respondent was found guilty of the narcotics charges, but not the firearm charges. Sometime later, he filed requests for information pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, and found out that O’Conner and Mitchell had been paid for their testimony against him. He moved to have his sentence vacated.
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