Darnell Bernard Blagmon v. Virginia
DueProcess HabeasCorpus
Did the state court violate petitioner's federal constitutional right to due process by making this ruling without having held an evidentiary hearing?
Question Presented Virginia law provides for filing of a Petition for Writ of Actual Innocence (Va. Code Ann. § 19.2-327.10 (West)) in Virginia state court. Petitioner filed for this relief on ground that the main witness against him at trial, Angel Berdecia, recanted his testimony and has affirmed that petitioner was not involved in the crimes. The state courts denied the Petition without an evidentiary hearing, however, ruling that the Affirmation of the witness Berdecia was “not shown to be true.” Did the state court violate petitioner’s federal constitutional right to due process by making this ruling without having held an evidentiary hearing?