Ian Davis v. Margaret Bradshaw

JOHN K. BUSH, Circuit Judge.

A recantation is not always a good reason for a new trial. The recanting witness, in fact, may have told the truth the first time. Other evidence may corroborate the earlier testimony over the recantation. Such is the case here.

Ian Davis is currently incarcerated for the assault and murder of Marsha Blakely. His conviction was based on the testimony of an eye-witness, William Avery, Jr., who changed his story several times before Davis's trial. But corroborating evidence permitted the jury to credit Avery's trial testimony that implicated Davis.

Years later, Avery…