Gary Benn v. John Lambert, Superintendent of the Washington State Penitentiary

Concurring:

Lord Acton, the celebrated 19th century British historian and student of politics, formulated an observation about government and human nature that aptly, and regrettably, fits this case: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” It was for this reason that over one hundred years earlier, the Framers of *1063 our Constitution meticulously separated the powers given by the People to our government and erected against each a structural series of checks and balances designed to confront the potential for abuse. Then, by enacting the Bill of Rights, the Framers made certain that basic principles of a fair and just trial could not be episodically overridden, even by a unanimous legislature, an overzealous executive, or a wayward judiciary.

In large measure, the Framers were influenced by Charles de Secondat, baron de Montesquieu, an astute student of history and politics in his own right, who, in his seminal work The Spirit of the Laws, said:

This case provides us with a textbook example of the abuse of executive power contemplated by Montesquieu, Lord Acton, and the Framers of our Constitution. Rather than adhere to the clear letter of the law,…

The State of Washington, through the superintendent of the Washington State Penitentiary, appeals the district court’s decision to grant Gary Michael Benn’s ha-beas corpus petition, arguing that the district judge erred in holding that the Washington State Supreme Court decision was contrary to or involved an unreasonable application of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 , 83 S.Ct. 1194 , 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963), and its progeny. Because we hold that the state court’s decision that there was no Brady violation in Benn’s case constitutes an unreasonable application of clearly established Supreme Court law, we affirm.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

On February 10, 1988, Gary Michael Benn made a 911 call to the Pierce County Sheriffs Department from the home of his half-brother, Jack Dethlefsen, and reported finding his half-brother’s body as well as the body of his half-brother’s friend, Michael Nelson. Officer Junge of the Pierce County Sheriffs Department arrived at the scene three minutes later and observed the bodies of the two victims on the floor in the living room. Both men had been shot once in the chest and once in the back of the head. He checked them for vital signs and found…

283 F.3d 1040 Gary BENN, Petitioner-Appellee, v. John LAMBERT, Superintendent of the Washington State Penitentiary, Respondent-Appellant. No. 00-99014. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted November 5, 2001. Filed February 26, 2002. COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED Suzanne Lee Elliott, & David B. Zuckerman, Seattle, WA, for the petitioner-appellee. John J. Samson, & Donna H. Mullen, Assistant Attorneys General, Olympia, WA, for the respondent-appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, Franklin D. Burgess, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CV-98-05131-FDB. Before: REINHARDT, TROTT and W. FLETCHER, Circuit Judges. OPINION REINHARDT, Circuit Judge. 1 The State of Washington, through the superintendent of the Washington State Penitentiary, appeals the district court's decision to grant Gary Michael Benn's habeas corpus petition, arguing that the district judge erred in holding that the Washington State Supreme Court decision was contrary to or involved an unreasonable application of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 , 83 S.Ct. 1194 , 10 L.Ed.2d 215…