Brown v. Mississippi

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Joseph Patrick Brown was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in 1994, and his conviction and sentence were affirmed by the Mississippi Supreme Court in 1996. Brown notified the Supreme Court of his intent to file a successive petition for post-conviction relief. Included in that notice was a motion requesting the Court to direct the Circuit Court of Adams County to assume jurisdiction over “discovery matters relevant to Mr. Brown’s successive post-conviction claims.” The Supreme Court unanimously denied that motion on December 17, 2015, finding that “there has been no minimal showing of any need for pre-petition discovery.” Brown’s Motion for Leave to Invoke Discovery and Seek Access Orders in the Circuit Court was thus denied. “The only thing differentiating this motion from the previous request is that Brown now presents [the Supreme] Court with several discovery ‘needs.’ Aside from references to a claim of ineffective assistance of post-conviction counsel, Brown’s motion does not identify with any particularity the issues that he plans to raise in his successive petition. Instead, he claims that so-called ‘pre-petition discovery’ is necessary for him to ‘file a meaningful and constitutionally adequate motion for leave to proceed in the trial court with a petition for post-conviction relief.’” View "Brown v. Mississippi" on Justia Law