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Donald L. Blankenship v. United States

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, No. 20-6330 · judgment December 7, 2021


Certiorari denied · October 3, 2022
Pre-decision estimate: 3% cert probability

Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.

Question presented

Whether, to establish a violation of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), a defendant must show that he could not have obtained the suppressed, exculpatory evidence through his own independent efforts of “self-help” or “due diligence” as the Fourth Circuit and five other circuits have held, or whether the defendant’s failure to uncover the evidence independently is irrelevant, as the remaining six courts of appeals have held.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Benjamin L. Hatch
McGuireWoods LLP

For respondent
Elizabeth B. Prelogar
Solicitor General

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Amicus briefs
1 cert-stage

Proceedings

  1. Oct 03 2022
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Aug 24 2022
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/28/2022.
  3. Aug 23 2022
    Reply of petitioner Donald L. Blankenship filed. (Distributed)
  4. Aug 08 2022
    Brief of respondent United States in opposition filed.
  5. Jun 29 2022
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including August 8, 2022.
  6. Jun 27 2022
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from July 8, 2022 to August 8, 2022, submitted to The Clerk.
  7. Jun 06 2022
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including July 8, 2022.
  8. Jun 06 2022
    Brief amicus curiae of National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers filed.
  9. Jun 03 2022
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from June 8, 2022 to July 8, 2022, submitted to The Clerk.
  10. May 05 2022
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due June 8, 2022)