Herman Jackson, Jr. v. L. L. Wainwright, Director, Division of Corrections, State of Florida

WISDOM, Circuit Judge:

In this habeas proceeding we hold that the prosecutor’s failure to disclose exculpatory evidence violated the duty of candor imposed on a prosecutor in dealing with a criminal accused. The undisclosed evidence related to the critical issue of the identification of the accused as the guilty party, and the exculpatory evidence came from the only eyewitness to the alleged criminal act. In these circumstances, the effect of the nondisclosure was to deprive the defendant of a fair trial.

In the early evening of February 26, 1960, in the Lake Worth Section of West Palm Beach,…