Timothy C. Gantt v. Ernie C. Roe Attorney General of the State of California

Petitioner was convicted of murder and robbery in state court and sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole. In his federal habeas petition he raises a number of claims, the most significant of which is that the prosecution failed to disclose exculpatory evidence in violation of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 , 83 S.Ct. 1194 , 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963).

Facts

The victim, Kalpesh Vardham, was found dead on the sixth level of a parking garage in downtown Los Angeles, having been stabbed 19 times during an apparent robbery. E.R. 19-20. No suspects were found at the scene when police arrived.

Two months later, the police picked up David Rosemond, a local car burglar, in connection with an unrelated burglary. Rosemond disclosed that he had been in the garage at the time of Vardham’s murder and had seen petitioner “beating up” the victim. E.R. 23-25, R.T. 260. After getting Rosemond’s tip, the police arrested petitioner and questioned him about the crime. E.R. 25. They found that he was carrying a matchbook from Shalimar, an Indian restaurant in the Los Angeles area. Written inside the matchbook was a 19-digit phone number, which turned out to connect to a phone in…