Napue v. Illinois

Napue v. Illinois
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued April 30, 1959 Decided June 15, 1959
Full case name	Henry Napue, Petitioner, v. Illinois
Citations	360 U.S. 264 (more) 79 S. Ct. 1173; 3 L. Ed. 2d 1217; 1959 U.S. LEXIS 811
Case history
Prior	Petition for post-conviction relief denied (Criminal Court of Cook County, Illinois). Affirmed sub nom. Napue v. People, 13 Ill. 2d 566, 150 N. E. 2d 613 (1958).
Holding
The knowing use of false testimony by a prosecutor in a criminal case, including testimony affecting only the credibility of a witness and which does not directly touch on the innocence or guilt of a defendant, violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Court membership
Chief Justice Earl Warren Associate Justices Hugo Black · Felix Frankfurter William O. Douglas · Tom C. Clark John M. Harlan II · William J. Brennan Jr. Charles E. Whittaker · Potter Stewart
Case opinion
Majority	Warren, joined by unanimous

Napue v. Illinois, 360 U.S. 264 (1959), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that the knowing use of false testimony by a prosecutor in a criminal case violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, even if the testimony affects only the credibility of the witness and does not directly relate to the innocence or guilt of the defendant.