In Re Miguel Angel Bacigalupo on Habeas Corpus

Summary

The California Supreme Court granted habeas relief from petitioner’s death sentence because the prosecution withheld favorable and material evidence supporting his penalty-phase claim that he acted under Colombian Mafia threats and domination. The undisclosed evidence included information from a confidential informant linking a major drug trafficker to the murders and establishing that the trafficker met with petitioner before the killings; disclosure would have enabled the defense to present corroborated mitigation evidence. Justice Liu, concurring, additionally emphasized that prosecutorial misconduct tainted the pretrial materiality ruling and prevented the defense from discovering further corroborating evidence.