United States v. Pickard, No. 11-3089 (10th Cir. 2011)
Annotate this CasePro se prisoners Defendants William Pickard and Clyde Apperson filed a consolidated application for a certificate of appealability (COA) to appeal the district court's denial of certain claims they presented in their motion for post-conviction relief. Defendants were convicted of conspiracy to manufacture lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). Apperson was sentenced to 30 years’ imprisonment, and Pickard received a life sentence. The Tenth Circuit affirmed their convictions on direct appeal. Defendants then filed motions to set aside their convictions and sentences. They claimed, among other things, that the "government violated its 'Brady/Giglio' obligations by suppressing the criminal and informant backgrounds of certain witnesses" and that the "government engaged in prosecutorial misconduct by failing to disclose exculpatory evidence." The district court ruled that this new evidence was cumulative of the substantial impeachment evidence introduced at trial and that, given the overwhelming evidence of Defendants’ guilt, the new evidence would not have caused a different result at trial. Upon review, the Tenth Circuit concluded that "no reasonable jurist could debate the district court's denial" of Defendant's claims. Accordingly, the Court denied Defendants' application for a COA and dismissed their appeal.
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