Cite as: 540 U. S. 668 (2004)
Opinion of the Court
habeas proceedings that petitioner had already received everything known to the government." Ibid. (internal quotation marks omitted).13
This case is congruent with Strickler in all three respects. First, the State knew of, but kept back, Farr's arrangement with Deputy Sheriff Huff. App. to Pet. for Cert. C43; Tr. of Oral Arg. 33; cf. Kyles v. Whitley, 514 U. S. 419, 437 (1995) (prosecutors are responsible for "any favorable evidence known to the others acting on the government's behalf in the case, including the police"). Second, the State asserted, on the eve of trial, that it would disclose all Brady material. App. 361, n. 1; see supra, at 677. As Strickler instructs, Banks cannot be faulted for relying on that representation. See 527 U. S., at 283-284 (an "open file policy" is one factor that "explain[s] why trial counsel did not advance [a Brady] claim").
Third, in his January 1992 state habeas application, Banks asserted that Farr was a police informant and Banks's arrest, "a set-up." App. 180, ¶ 114 (internal quotation marks omitted). In its answer, the State denied Banks's assertion. Id., at 234; see supra, at 683. The State thereby "confirmed" Banks's reliance on the prosecution's representation that it had fully disclosed all relevant information its file contained. 527 U. S., at 289; see id., at 284 (state habeas counsel, as well as trial counsel, could reasonably rely on the State's representations). In short, because the State persisted in hiding Farr's informant status and misleadingly represented that it had complied in full with its Brady disclosure obligations, Banks had cause for failing to investigate, in state postconviction proceedings, Farr's connections to Deputy Sheriff Huff.
13 We left open the question "whether any one or two of these factors would be sufficient to constitute cause." Strickler, 527 U. S., at 289. We need not decide that question today.
693
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