Whitton v. Dixon
Case Overview
Gary Whitton was convicted in Florida of fatally stabbing a friend, partly on the testimony of a jailhouse informant. He sought federal habeas relief, arguing the State violated Giglio v. United States by letting false or misleading informant testimony stand uncorrected. The question at the Supreme Court was whether the Eleventh Circuit could weigh DNA evidence that did not exist at trial when deciding whether that error was harmless.
The Facts
A Florida jury convicted Gary Richard Whitton of murder based partly on the testimony of jailhouse informant Jake Ozio, who falsely claimed he had no prior criminal history. In federal habeas proceedings, Whitton argued the State's use of that false testimony violated Giglio v. United States, 405 U.S. 150 (1972). A decade after trial, new DNA testing linked blood on Whitton's boots to the victim. The Eleventh Circuit relied on that after-acquired DNA evidence when evaluating whether the state courts reasonably found Ozio's testimony immaterial to the verdict.
The Application
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the denial of habeas relief in part by weighing DNA evidence discovered a decade after trial that the jury never saw. The Supreme Court held that evidence could not inform whether Ozio's false testimony affected the jury's actual verdict, since it did not exist at trial. The Court expressed no view on whether the state courts' determination was reasonable based on the evidence actually presented at trial.
The Conclusion
The Supreme Court granted certiorari, vacated the Eleventh Circuit's judgment, and remanded for further proceedings in a per curiam opinion. Justice Thomas, joined by Justice Alito except as to Part III-B, dissented.
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