8
Per Curiam
examination. That assessment is borne out by the best possible proof: The Federal District Court below went so far as to permit respondent's habeas counsel, armed with the information about the polygraph examinations, to question Rodney under oath. Even though respondent's counsel was permitted to refer to the polygraph results themselves—reference to which would not be permissible on retrial—counsel obtained no contradictions or admissions out of Rodney. See id., at 84-87.
In short, it is not "reasonably likely" that disclosure of the polygraph results—inadmissible under state law—would have resulted in a different outcome at trial. Even without Rodney's testimony, the case against respondent was overwhelming. To acquit of aggravated murder, the jury would have had to believe that respondent's single action revolver discharged accidently, not once but twice, by tragic coincidence depositing a bullet to the back of the victim's head, execution style, as the victim lay face down on the floor. In the face of this physical evidence, as well as Rodney and Tracy's testimony—to say nothing of the testimony by Bell that the State likely could introduce on retrial—it should take more than supposition on the weak premises offered by respondent to undermine a court's confidence in the outcome.
Whenever a federal court grants habeas relief to a state prisoner the issuance of the writ exacts great costs to the State's legitimate interest in finality. And where, as here, retrial would occur 13 years later, those costs and burdens are compounded many times. Those costs may be justified where serious doubts about the reliability of a trial infested with constitutional error exist. But where, as in this case, a federal appellate court, second-guessing a convict's own trial counsel, grants habeas relief on the basis of little more than speculation with slight support, the proper delicate balance between the federal courts and the States is upset to a degree that requires correction.
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