Holmes v. South Carolina
United States Supreme Court
547 U.S. 319 (2006)
- Written by Rich Walter, JD
Facts
Holmes (defendant) was charged with murder, sexual assault, burglary, and robbery in connection with an incident involving the victim, Mary Stewart, at her home. The trial court convicted Holmes, the South Carolina Supreme Court affirmed the conviction, and the United States Supreme Court denied certiorari. However, upon state post-conviction review, a new trial was ordered. At the new trial, Holmes sought to introduce proof that another man, Jimmy McCaw White, was actually the one who had committed the crimes against Stewart. The trial court excluded this evidence of third party guilt and the South Carolina Supreme Court affirmed on the grounds that evidence of a third party’s guilt is not admissible if it merely implicates a third party and does not exculpate the defendant. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Alito, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 778,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,200 briefs, keyed to 988 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.
