2
Per Curiam
exists a reasonable probability that had the evidence been disclosed the result at trial would have been different. The polygraph results were not evidence at all, and their disclosure would have had no direct effect on the trial's outcome because respondent could have made no mention of them during argument or while questioning witnesses. The Ninth Circuit's judgment is based on mere speculation that disclosure might have led respondent's counsel to conduct additional discovery. Yet counsel's trial strategy did not involve deposing Rodney, and counsel candidly acknowledged that disclosure would not have affected the scope of his cross-examination. Since the case against respondent was overwhelming, even without Rodney's testimony, it should take more than supposition on respondent's weak premises to undermine a court's confidence in the trial's outcome.
Certiorari granted; 34 F. 3d 870, reversed and remanded.
Per Curiam.
The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed the District Court's denial of habeas relief based on its speculation that the prosecution's failure to turn over the results of a polygraph examination of a key witness might have had an adverse effect on pretrial preparation by the defense. The Court of Appeals assumed, and the parties do not dispute, that the results were inadmissible under state law both for substantive purposes as well as for impeachment. The decision below is a misapplication of our Brady jurisprudence, see Brady v. Maryland, 373 U. S. 83 (1963), and we accordingly reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals and remand for further proceedings.
I
On August 1, 1981, respondent Dwayne Bartholomew robbed a laundromat in Tacoma, Washington. In the course of the robbery, the laundromat attendant was shot and killed. Two shots were fired: One hit the attendant in the head; the second lodged in a counter near the victim's body. From the beginning, respondent admitted that he committed the robbery and that the shots came from his gun.
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