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BILLY S. JEFFRIES, Petitioner-Appellant, v. JAMES L. MORGAN, in his official capacity as Warden of the Northpoint Training Center, Respondent-Appellee. |
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Kentucky at Frankfort.
No. 05-00066—Karen K. Caldwell, District Judge.
Argued: February 5, 2008
Decided and Filed: April 14, 2008
Before: MARTIN and SUTTON, Circuit Judges; OBERDORFER, District Judge.
BOYCE F. MARTIN, JR., Circuit Judge. Billy S. Jeffries appeals the district court’s denial of his petition for habeas corpus seeking to overturn his conviction for murder and attempted rape based on evidence discovered subsequent to trial that implicates another person, John Dillon, in the crime. The issues on appeal are whether the district court erred in holding that: (1) upholding the Kentucky Supreme Court’s decision that the evidence introduced at trial was sufficient to support a conviction; (2) affirming the Kentucky Court of Appeals’ decision that the Commonwealth’s failure to turn over the limited information it had about Dillon to the defense did not give rise to a Brady v. Maryland claim; and (3) denying as moot Jeffries’ motion to expand the record and compel the Commonwealth to produce the transcripts of the trial. We now find that the district court erred in denying Jeffries’ motion to expand the record. Therefore, we VACATE the district court’s denial of habeas corpus, REVERSE the denial of Jeffries’ motion to expand the record, and REMAND with instructions that the district court review the entire available record in assessing Jeffries’ petition.