Must a habeas petitioner make a threshold showing of reliability before the reviewing court will consider the evidence in totality to determine whether the petitioner has established actual innocence?

QUESTION PRESENTED A state prisoner seeking federal habeas review can overcome a failure to comply with the AEDPA’s 1-year statute of limitations by establishing actual innocence. McQuggin v. Perkins, 569 U.S. 383 (2013). The actual innocence standard requires that the petitioner proffer new reliable evidence that, when taken in conjunction with all of the existing evidence, would leave any reasonable juror with reasonable doubt as to the petitioner’s guilt. In House v. Bell, 547 U.S. 518, 539-40 (2006), this Court reiterated that the standard “requires a holistic judgment about all the evidence” and that “[a]s a general rule, the inquiry does not turn on discrete findings regarding disputed points of fact.”. Yet the contours of that general rule, and the exceptions thereto, remain elusive. As this case demonstrates, there is a growing divide amongst the circuits regarding the correct application of this standard, which begs the question: Must a habeas petitioner make a threshold showing of reliability before the reviewing court will consider the evidence in totality to determine whether the petitioner has established actual innocence? i