No Abuse of Discretion for Uncovering Witness's False Credentials

There is not an abuse of the trial court's discretion if it were to decline to find a lack of due diligence when defense counsel failed to discover that an expert witness lied about credentials.

 

State v. Hunt, 2015 BL 193541, Md. No. 72.

 

     The Maryland Court of Appeals held that a trial court did not abuse their discretion when it did not find a lack of due diligence on the part of the defense counsel for not finding that a state's expert witness may have lied about their credentials. Maryland's state rules provide that a petition for a writ of actual innocence must allege that there is newly discovered evidence and that evidence "with due diligence, could not have been discovered" in time to seek a new trial by a direct route.

 

     In this case the petitioners sought the write because it was revealed that the ballistics expert who testified at their trials, and had testified for the state for over 20 years, had allegedly been lying about his credentials and qualifications.

 

    The opinion states that "it would not be an abuse of discretion for a hearing judge to find that a defense attorney might fail" to find problems with a witness "after nonetheless exercising due diligence." This confirms that an attorney's investigation attempts need not be perfect.

 





 

http://www2.bloomberglaw.com/public/desktop/document/State_v_Hunt_No_72_and_73_2015_BL_193541_Md_June_18_2015_Court_Op