In a fact specific case (with an accompanying habeas petition), the defendants due process rights were violated by the prosecutions withholding of material evidence impeaching a prosecution witness. The defendant was an employee of a law office, accused of taking money paid to secure a clients bail. The witness, Esquivel, was the officer manager, whose three expunged felony convictions and pending spousal abuse charge went undisclosed, despite a formal request for Esquivels rap sheet. The trial was essentially a credibility contest, with defendant explaining that he had placed the money in an office cabinet as directed by the office manager and it had subsequently disappeared. Note: Mr. Martinez represented himself at trial, was the litigant who established precedent that there is no federal constitutional right to self-representation on appeal, and who was represented by counsel in this successful appeal.
Case Summaries