Banks v. Dretke

540 U.S. 668 (2004)

From our private database of 47,500+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Banks v. Dretke

United States Supreme Court
540 U.S. 668 (2004)

  • Written by DeAnna Swearingen, LLM
Play video

Facts

Banks (defendant) was accused of murdering a 16-year-old during a car jacking. Evidence was presented at trial that Banks had previously attacked a family member, and Banks admitted to helping someone get a gun. Banks did not have a criminal record. A paid informant named Farr testified that Banks used a gun to facilitate robberies. The prosecution did not inform the defense that Farr was a paid informant, despite claiming at trial and other proceedings that nothing was withheld.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Ginsburg, J.)

Concurrence/Dissent (Thomas, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 964,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 964,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 47,500 briefs, keyed to 1,006 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
  • AI-generated podcast version of every brief — listen on the go, between classes, or whenever reading isn’t an option. New

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 964,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 47,500 briefs - keyed to 1,006 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

Criminal Procedure

Key Terms

  • Reasonable Probability TestStandard for determining whether evidence is material under Brady; under the test, evidence is material if a reasonable probability, or a probability large enough to call the outcome into question, exists that the outcome of the case might have been different if the evidence was turned over to the defense.

Understand your casebook readings in seconds

Use our case briefs to comprehend your casebook readings faster, supplement your notes and outlines, and outshine your peers in class.

Get instant access to over 47,500+ expert-written case briefs in a searchable database keyed to 1,006 law school casebooks.

Case book preview
Start your free 7-day trial