Deanna Brookhart, Acting Warden v. Anthony D. Lee, Sr.

Respondent claimed on state postconviction review that his counsel was ineffective for failing to investigate and call five witnesses at his state-court trial. To support his claim, he submitted affidavits providing their proposed testimony. The state appellate court accepted the affidavits as true and held there was no reasonable probability that respondent would have been acquitted had the witnesses testified in accordance with their affidavits. On federal habeas review, the district court denied relief, but the Seventh Circuit vacated and remanded for an evidentiary hearing, holding that the state appellate court made an unreasonable determination of fact under 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(2) by accepting the affidavits as true rather than conducting a hearing to determine whether the affiants might recant or expand upon their proposed testimony. The question presented is whether a state court makes an unreasonable determination of fact within the meaning of 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(2) by assuming the truth of affidavits provided in support of a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel.