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Chapman v. State of Maryland

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit
May 29, 1975
516 F.2d 1277 (4th Cir. 1975)

Opinion

No. 74-1705.

Argued May 9, 1975.

Decided May 29, 1975.

Luther C. West, Baltimore, Md. [Court-appointed], for appellant.

Bernard A. Raum, Asst. Atty. Gen. of Md. (Francis B. Burch, Atty. Gen. of Md., and Clarence W. Sharp, Asst. Atty. Gen., Chief, Crim. Div., on brief), for appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland.

Before ANDERSON, Senior Circuit Judge, and CRAVEN and FIELD, Circuit Judges.

Second Circuit Judge, Sitting by Designation.


This is an appeal from the denial of habeas relief by the district court. In a thorough opinion the district judge reviewed the determinations of the Maryland courts and concluded that suppression of a police report was not "material" in the sense that word was used in Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215. He noted that the trial was nonjury. He also noted that to the extent that the police report cast doubt on the identification testimony of the prosecuting witness it was cumulative. Other evidence clearly indicated her initial confusion as to how many persons had raped her and her capacity positively to identify this particular appellant. The district court correctly concluded, we think, that there was no "reasonable likelihood" that production of the report would have affected the triers of fact. Giglio v. United States, 405 U.S. 150, 154, 92 S.Ct. 763, 31 L.Ed.2d 104 (1972).

Affirmed.


Summaries of

Chapman v. State of Maryland

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit
May 29, 1975
516 F.2d 1277 (4th Cir. 1975)
Case details for

Chapman v. State of Maryland

Case Details

Full title:NICKOLIS S. CHAPMAN, APPELLANT v. STATE OF MARYLAND, APPELLEE

Court:United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit

Date published: May 29, 1975

Citations

516 F.2d 1277 (4th Cir. 1975)

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