Supremem Court and Juan Smith

It really does not seem that reliable for someone to describe a man in a mask at first glance. One would not think anyone could, but evidently, someone “can.” Larry Boatner, the eyewitness in this Supreme Court case claimed he “could.” On Monday, June 13, 2011, the United States Supreme Court granted a hearing to the petitioner Juan Smith. Smith had previously been convicted of five murders by both state and trial courts. This verdict was made in the absence of physical evidence, no DNA, no fingerprints etc, only based off of the eyewitness’ statement. Where he claimed he could tell it was Juan Smith who committed the murders, when he claimed in previous statements that he could never identify the masked murderer. The Supreme Court Case was decided on Tuesday, January 12, 2012 in favor of Smith, regarding his claims of violation in Brady v. Maryland 373 U.S. 83 (1963) and other past precedents. The importance of this case is due to the long-term impact that is made in judicial precedent, where eye witness testimony should not be solely relied upon, more concrete evidence shall be deemed necessary, and more attention shall be paid to both disclosed and undisclosed evidence; along with whether or not “reasonable probability” existed; and if the verdict could have been different because of it.

In 1995, multiple masked and armed men who appeared to be burglars broke into a home. At the time, multiple people were celebrating a birthday in the home when the crime was committed. The men then proceeded to shoot and kill five people, the fifth surviving until later that night. The individuals of the crime were unable to be identified by anyone. Larry Boatner, the eyewitness who testified in court, happened to give an undiscl...

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