Banks v. Dretke, 540 U.S. 668, 23 (2004)

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690

BANKS v. DRETKE

Opinion of the Court

A

To pursue habeas corpus relief in federal court, Banks first had to exhaust "the remedies available in the courts of the State." 28 U. S. C. § 2254(b) (1994 ed.); see Rose v. Lundy, 455 U. S. 509, 520 (1982). Banks alleged in his January 1992 state-court application for a writ of habeas corpus that the prosecution knowingly failed to turn over exculpatory evidence involving Farr in violation of Banks's due process rights. App. 180. Banks thus satisfied the exhaustion requirement as to the legal ground for his Farr Brady claim.11

In state postconviction court, however, Banks failed to produce evidence establishing that Farr had served as a police informant in this case. As support for his Farr Brady claim, Banks appended to his state-court application only Demetra Jefferson's hardly probative statement that Farr "was well-connected to law enforcement people." App. 195, ¶ 7; see supra, at 682. In the federal habeas forum, therefore, it was incumbent on Banks to show that he was not barred, by reason of the anterior state proceedings, from producing evidence to substantiate his Farr Brady claim. Banks "[would be] entitled to an evidentiary hearing [in federal court] if he [could] show cause for his failure to develop the

11 Banks's federal habeas petition, the Court of Appeals said, stated a claim, only under Brady, that material exculpatory or impeachment evidence had been suppressed, not a claim under Napue v. Illinois, 360 U. S. 264 (1959), and Giglio v. United States, 405 U. S. 150 (1972), that the prosecution had failed to correct Farr's false testimony. App. to Pet. for Cert. A29-A32; App. 259-260. In its view, the Court of Appeals explained, a Brady claim is distinct from a Giglio claim, App. to Pet. for Cert. A30; thus the two did not fit under one umbrella. But cf. United States v. Bagley, 473 U. S. 667, 679-680, n. 8 (1985); United States v. Agurs, 427 U. S. 97, 103-104 (1976). On brief, the parties debate the issue. Brief for Petitioner 23-25; Brief for Respondent 21-22, n. 21. Because we conclude that Banks qualifies for relief under Brady, we need not decide whether a Giglio claim, to warrant adjudication, must be separately pleaded.

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