Two Steps Closer to Brady’s Abandoned Promise: The Fourth Circuit’s Cumulative Materiality Test for Brady and Napue Claims

On July 19, 2023, in Juniper v. Davis, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit fashioned a two-step process for analyzing the cumulative materiality of alleged violations of Brady v. Maryland (failure to disclose favorable evidence) and Napue v. Illinois (knowing presentation of false evidence). These two types of prosecutorial misconduct are frequently alleged together, creating an analytical challenge for reviewing courts because each type of violation is governed by a different standard of materiality. The Fourth Circuit combined elements of the Ninth and Second Circuits’ approaches to this analytical challenge, creating a test that allows for certain evidence to be reviewed under the more permissive Napue materiality standard while preserving the stricter Brady materiality test for subsequent review, should the first step fail to show materiality. This Comment argues that although the Fourth Circuit’s approach offers a salutary liberalization of the post-conviction review of intertwined Brady and Napue claims, it does not dispense with the fundamental flaws of the Brady materiality standard. Rather, courts examining cumulative materiality of Brady and Napue evidence should do so entirely under the Napue standard—a solution that would ameliorate analytical challenges for courts and militate toward more consistent and just results.