No. 25-1025

Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage v. United States

Lower Court: Tenth Circuit
Docketed: 2026-02-26
Status: Denied
Type: Paid
Response Waived
Tags: appellate-review brady-violation due-process prosecutorial-misconduct rule-33-motion witness-recantation
Latest Conference: 2026-03-27
Question Presented (from Petition)

1. Whether due process and this Court's precedents
(Napue v. Illinois , Giglio v. United States , Kyles v.
Whitley ) require a federal trial court to hold an
evidentiary hearing before denying a Rule 33 motion
for new trial where multiple sworn post-trial
recantations by accusing witnesses admit perjury and
reveal undisclosed inducements, where the credibility
of those witnesses was decisive at trial.

2. Whether a court of appeals violates Kyles v. Whitley ,
514 U.S. 419 (1995), when it rejects a Brady claim by
evaluating each suppressed item in isolation rather
than cumulatively, particularly where suppressed
impeachment evidence, corroborated recantations,
and physical-evidence irregularities collectively
undermine confidence in a criminal verdict.

3. Whether an appellate court may invoke the invitederror or waiver doctrine to bar review of the legal
standard a district court applied in denying a Rule 33
new-trial motion when (a) the law in that circuit was
unsettled, (b) the defendant advanced alternative
standards below, and (c) the doctrine thus precludes
review of whether the correct legal rule governed the
outcome.

Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether due process requires a federal trial court to hold an evidentiary hearing before denying a Rule 33 motion for new trial based on sworn post-trial recantations by accusing witnesses admitting perjury, and whether appellate courts must evaluate Brady claims cumulatively rather than in isolation when suppressed evidence collectively undermines confidence in a verdict

Docket Entries

2026-03-30
Petition DENIED.
2026-03-11
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 3/27/2026.
2026-03-04
Waiver of United States of right to respond submitted.
2026-03-04
Waiver of right of respondent United States to respond filed.
2026-02-04
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due March 30, 2026)
2025-12-30
Application (25A750) granted by Justice Gorsuch extending the time to file until January 29, 2026.
2025-12-19
Application (25A750) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from December 30, 2025 to February 28, 2026, submitted to Justice Gorsuch.

Attorneys

Joseph Maldonado-Passage
Alexander L. RootsPlanalp & Roots, P.C., Petitioner
United States
D. John SauerSolicitor General, Respondent