160
Opinion of the Court
monwealth intends to introduce at the penalty phase." Id., at 194. The court declined to review the Brady subclaim because it was procedurally barred. 1 J. A. 194.
Later, on petitioner's motion, the District Court amended its judgment to find within petitioner's Sorrell claim a specific due process claim about the admissibility of the Sorrell murder evidence. Id., at 252. (In amending this judgment, the court announced that it remained unchanged as to the remaining claims, which it had dismissed. Id., at 251.) After holding an evidentiary hearing on the Sorrell claim, the District Court ordered that petitioner be granted a writ of habeas corpus. The court characterized the claim as an allegation that petitioner "was denied due process of law under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution because the Commonwealth failed to provide fair notice that evidence concerning the Sorrell murders would be introduced at his penalty phase." App. 348. Citing Gardner v. Florida, 430 U. S. 349, 357-359 (1977), the court determined that there was a constitutional defect in petitioner's penalty phase hearing: "Petitioner was confronted and surprised by the testimony of officer Slezak and Dr. Press-walla." App. 349. This defect "violated [petitioner's] right to fair notice and rendered the hearing clearly unreliable," because petitioner's attorneys had less than one day's notice of the additional evidence to be used against their client. Id., at 349-350.
The Commonwealth appealed, arguing to the Fourth Circuit that to grant petitioner habeas relief would give him the benefit of a new rule of federal constitutional law, in violation of Teague v. Lane, 489 U. S. 288 (1989). The Fourth Circuit reversed the judgment granting the writ, rejected petitioner's cross-appeals from the dismissal of several other claims, and remanded with directions that the habeas corpus petition be dismissed. Gray v. Thompson, 58 F. 3d 59, 67 (1995). The court distinguished Gardner, on which the District Court had relied, because petitioner, unlike Gardner, "was
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