United States v. Mark E. Huddleston

SELYA, Circuit Judge.

For many years, the courts of appeals have been divided over what legal standard obtains when a convicted defendant premises a motion for new trial on a claim that he has newly discovered that the case against him was based in part on the prosecutor’s unwitting use of perjured testimony. Some courts apply a “probability” standard in such situations, granting relief only if the discovery “probably” or “likely” — courts in this context use the terms interchangeably, and we shall use the former — would lead to an acquittal. See United States v. Torres, 128 F.3d 38, 49 (2d…