In a criminal conviction of two individual if one of them obtained relief on habeas corpus by showing the prosecution committed a brady vio...

Question

In a criminal conviction of two individual if one of them obtained relief on habeas corpus by showing the prosecution committed a brady violationis there laws such a court rules, statues or cases that require the conviction of the codefendant to be overturns aswell?

Answer

Are you asking if the second defendant will automatically benefit from the ruling on the first defendant's petition, the answer is no. But he may be able to get the same relief by filing a similar habeas petition. The factual finding that the prosecutor committed a Brady violation may not be technically binding in the second case but, even if it isn't, the court in that case will have a hard time justifying a contrary finding.

Please feel free to contact me directly if you would like to discuss this case further. I am a certified appellate specialist (per the State Bar of California's Board of Legal Specialization) with many years of relevant experience.

Answer

Not necessarily. Just because withheld "Brady" evidence exonerates one codefendant, or there was a procedural error as to one codefendant does not automatically set the other codefendant free.