United States v. Nobles

Nobles (defendant) was convicted of bank robbery based mainly on eyewitness identifications; the defense hired an investigator who interviewed the eyewitnesses and took notes, which defense counsel used at trial to attempt impeachment on cross-examination. When the trial court allowed the prosecution to see the relevant portions of those notes once the defense sought to call the investigator to testify about the witnesses' alleged prior statements, the defense refused to produce the report, and the court disallowed the investigator's impeachment testimony as a result. The Ninth Circuit found this reversible error, and the Supreme Court granted certiorari.