United States v. Cliffina Johnson

MEMORANDUM

This is a consolidated appeal from the district court’s denial of Cliffína Johnson’s and Frederick Shirley’s 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motions to vacate their convictions for conspiracy to bribe a public official and bribery of a public official. Johnson and Shirley argue they are entitled to a new trial on the basis of their discovery, more than three years after they had been convicted and sentenced, that the government’s key witness, Clarence Walker, had been indicted on criminal charges unrelated to Johnson’s and Shirley’s crimes. The district court denied relief, concluding Walker’s own knowledge of his criminal activities could not be attributed to the government at the time of trial. It ruled this information was not material and would not have affected the result. We review the district court’s denial of a § 2255 motion de novo. United States v. Gamba, 541 F.3d 895, 898 (9th Cir.2008). The district court did not err, and we affirm.

There was no due process violation at the time of trial under Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 , 83 S.Ct. 1194 , 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963), or Napue v. Illinois, 360 U.S. 264 , 79 S.Ct. 1173 , 3 L.Ed.2d 1217 (1959), because Walker’s own knowledge…