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John Allen Muhammad denied by the Fourth Circuit

By Karl R. Keys, Esq.

The Fourth Circuit has denied habeas relief to John Allen Muhammad. Quite disturbing is the 30,000 pages of evidence the Commonwealth suppressed. In rather blunt language the panel writes: Let it be clear that we by no means condone the actions of the Commonwealth in this case. As a matter of practice, the prosecution should err on the side of disclosure, especially when a defendant is facing the specter of execution. When questioned at oral argument regarding why this information was withheld or why the Commonwealth did not take the step of instituting an open-file policy, the Commonwealth had no explanation. However, as one might expect where the evidence of proof is considered overwhelming: Yet, at this stage of the criminal process, we deal only with actions that were clear violations of the  Constitution...continue to full post

Full post as published by Capital Defense Weekly on August 07, 2009 (boomark / email).