Long v. Butler

Dist. Ct. erred in denying defendant’s habeas petition that challenged his murder conviction on ground that prosecutor violated defendant’s due process rights by failing to correct perjured testimony from one of govt.'s witnesses who identified defendant as shooter of victim. Defendant did not procedurally default on his claim even though he embedded it in his ineffective assistance of counsel claim, since state appellate court squarely considered factual and legal basis of claim. Moreover, state court’s finding that instant perjury issue was “not meritorious” was unreasonable application of Supreme Court precedent, where: (1) record supported finding that witness lied on witness stand by denying that she had recanted her identification of defendant as culprit to States Attorney; (2) prosecutor was aware of witness’ false statement and did nothing to correct it; and (3) evidence against defendant was not strong. Also, defendant’s appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to raise perjury issue on appeal.