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The jury convicted Youngblood of sexual assault, brandishing a firearm, wanton endangerment involving a firearm, and indecent exposure. After being sentenced, Youngblood moved to set aside the verdict and argued that there was new and exculpatory evidence in the form of a note from two of the young women that supported Youngblood\u2019s consensual-sex defense to the sexual assault charge. The note had allegedly been shown to a state trooper who was investigating the incident, but he had refused to accept possession of it and requested that it be destroyed. Youngblood claimed that the suppression of this evidence constituted a violation of his rights under \u003Cem\u003EBrady v. Maryland\u003C\/em\u003E, which held that a constitutional violation occurs when the government fails to disclose evidence favorable to the accused. The trial court denied Youngblood a new trial by holding that the note was only impeachment, not exculpatory, evidence. The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia affirmed by holding that the trial court had not abused its discretion in denying a new trial. The Supreme Court of Appeals did not reach a decision on the merits of the alleged \u003Cem\u003EBrady\u003C\/em\u003E violation.\u003C\/p\u003E\n","question":"\u003Cp\u003EDoes the suppression of evidence favorable to the defense constitute a valid claim of a violation of constitutional rights under \u003Cem\u003EBrady v. Maryland\u003C\/em\u003E?\u003C\/p\u003E\n","conclusion":"\u003Cp\u003EIn a per curiam opinion, the majority of the Court held that Youngblood presented a valid constitutional claim under \u003Cem\u003EBrady v. Maryland\u003C\/em\u003E by alleging that the state trooper suppressed evidence favorable to Youngblood\u2019s defense. Because there was a valid claim of a \u003Cem\u003EBrady\u003C\/em\u003E violation, the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia should have addressed that issue on the merits. Therefore, the case was remanded.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn his dissent, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote that the Supreme Court should have addressed the \u003Cem\u003EBrady\u003C\/em\u003E issue on the merits rather than remanding the case to the lower court without guidance. Justice Clarence Thomas joined in the dissent. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote a separate dissent in which he argued that remanding a case to a lower court for further explanation on the \u003Cem\u003EBrady\u003C\/em\u003E issue was \u201cboth improper and contrary to our precedents.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n","advocates":null,"oral_argument_audio":null,"citation":{"volume":"547","page":"867","year":"2006","href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/case_citation\/case_citation\/19229"},"decisions":[{"description":"Evidence favorable to the defense that was suppressed by law enforcement constituted a valid claim of a violation of constitutional rights.","votes":[{"member":{"ID":15060,"name":"John Paul Stevens","href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/people\/john_paul_stevens","view_count":0,"last_name":"Stevens","roles":[{"id":2704,"type":"scotus_justice","date_start":188200800,"date_end":1277787600,"appointing_president":"Gerald Ford","role_title":"Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States","institution_name":"Supreme Court of the United States","href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/preson_role\/scotus_justice\/2704"}],"thumbnail":{"id":32732,"mime":"image\/png","size":62101,"href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/people\/john_paul_stevens\/john_paul_stevens.thumb.png"},"length_of_service":12611,"identifier":"john_paul_stevens"},"vote":"majority","opinion_type":"none","joining":null,"seniority":2,"ideology":-2.81,"href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/decision_vote\/decision_vote\/178185"},{"member":{"ID":15049,"name":"Antonin Scalia","href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/people\/antonin_scalia","view_count":0,"last_name":"Scalia","roles":[{"id":2693,"type":"scotus_justice","date_start":528094800,"date_end":1455343200,"appointing_president":"Ronald Reagan","role_title":"Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States","institution_name":"Supreme Court of the United States","href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/preson_role\/scotus_justice\/2693"}],"thumbnail":{"id":32678,"mime":"image\/png","size":58944,"href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/people\/antonin_scalia\/antonin_scalia.thumb.png"},"length_of_service":10732,"identifier":"antonin_scalia"},"vote":"minority","opinion_type":"dissent","joining":null,"seniority":3,"ideology":2.541,"href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/decision_vote\/decision_vote\/178186"},{"member":{"ID":15113,"name":"Anthony M. 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