Cite as: 540 U. S. 668 (2004)
Opinion of the Court
'deal' [Cook had] cut with the prosecutors." Id., at 152, ¶ 2, 180, ¶ 114.6
The State's reply to Banks's pleading, filed October 6, 1992, "denie[d] each and every allegation of fact made by [Banks], except those supported by official court records and those specifically admitted." Id., at 234; Tr. of Oral Arg. 32. "[N]othing was kept secret from the defense," the State represented. App. 234. While the reply specifically asserted that the State had made "no deal with Cook," ibid., the State said nothing specific about Farr. Affidavits from Deputy Sheriff Huff and prosecutors accompanied the reply. Id., at 241-243. The affiants denied any "deal, secret or otherwise, with Charles Cook," but they, too, like the State's pleading they supported, remained silent about Farr. Ibid.
In February and July 1993 orders, the state postconviction court rejected Banks's claims. App. to Pet. for Cert. E1-E9, G1-G7. The court found that "there was no agreement between the State and the witness Charles Cook," but made no findings concerning Farr. Id., at G2. In a January 10, 1996, one-page per curiam order, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals upheld the lower court's disposition of Banks's motion. Id., at D1.
On March 7, 1996, Banks filed the instant petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. App. 248. He alleged multiple violations of his federal constitutional rights. App. to Pet. for Cert. C5-C7. Relevant here, Banks reasserted that the State had withheld material exculpatory evi-6 Banks also alleged ineffective assistance of counsel at both the guilt and penalty phases; insufficient evidence on the second penalty-phase special issue (Banks's propensity to commit violent criminal acts); and the exclusion of minority jurors in violation of Swain v. Alabama, 380 U. S. 202 (1965). App. to Pet. for Cert. C5-C7. Banks filed two further state postconviction motions; both were denied. Brief for Respondent 6-7, nn. 6 and 7 (citing Ex parte Banks, No. 13568-03 (Tex. Crim. App. 1993) (per curiam), and Ex parte Banks, No. 13568-06 (Tex. Crim. App.), cert. denied, 538 U. S. 990 (2003)).
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