Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
Ernest Mills v. Louisiana
IFP petition · Supreme Court of Louisiana, No. 2025-KP-00512 · judgment September 16, 2025
Questions presented
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Whether U.S.C.A. Const. Amend. 14 requires state prosecutors to disclose material exculpatory evidence to criminal defendants before the entry of a guilty plea, particularly when a defendant has filed a motion for discovery and Brady material before entry of the guilty plea?
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Whether a Brady claim following a guilty plea is legally cognizable where the suppressed evidence was the cause without which the defendant would not have entered the guilty plea?
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Whether the Due Process Clause requires disclosure of material exculpatory evidence to a defendant before entry of a guilty plea a question the Supreme Court left open in Ruiz but on which federal circuits have reached divergent outcomes, and which a Louisiana decision applied in a way that forecloses a claim based on a pre-plea discovery violation.
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Ernest Mills
For respondent
Jorge Benjamin Aguinaga
Louisiana Department of Justice
Case
Subject area
Criminal Procedure (estimated from the questions presented, in the Supreme Court Database’s categories)
Conference history
Distributed for 2 conferences
Order
Order list, October 5, 2026 · Certiorari denied
Proceedings
- Oct 05 2026Petition DENIED.
- Jun 25 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/28/2026.
- Jun 25 2026Reply of petitioner Ernest Mills filed. (Distributed)
- Jun 10 2026Brief of respondent Louisiana in opposition filed.
- Apr 30 2026Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including June 10, 2026.
- Apr 29 2026Motion to extend the time to file a response from May 11, 2026 to June 10, 2026, submitted to The Clerk.
- Apr 10 2026Response Requested. (Due May 11, 2026)
- Apr 02 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 4/17/2026.
- Mar 30 2026Waiver of right of respondent Louisiana to respond filed.
- Feb 23 2026Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due April 10, 2026)