Troy Smith v. Kevin Chappell

MEMORANDUM

In California state court, Smith was convicted of second degree robbery, false imprisonment, second degree burglary, and conspiracy to commit robbery. He was sentenced to twenty-six years in prison. Smith later filed a habeas corpus petition in federal court in which he argued that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction. Shortly thereafter, pursuant to a Pitchess motion, Smith received approximately 300 pages of potential Brady material from the personnel file of a San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) inspector who was heavily involved in the investigation of his case, and who testified extensively at trial. See Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 , 83 S.Ct. 1194 , 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963); Pitchess v. Superior Court, 11 Cal.3d 531 , 113 Cal.Rptr. 897 , 522 P.2d 305 (1974), superseded by statute, Cal. Penal Code §§ 832.7 , 832.8, Cal. Evid. Code §§ 1043 ^45. The material revealed that, six years before the robbery, Inspector Gardner was involved in a cheating scandal relating to an SFPD officer’s examination. A police commission disciplined Gardner for lying to investigators and failing to properly report a leak of exam scenarios and answers. He was…