RUCKER, J.
At his hearing for post-conviction relief Hollin made a number of claims alleging ineffective assistance of counsel, one of which we find particularly compelling, namely, counsel failed to present evidence that would have impeached Vogel’s credibility. Specifically, Hollin alleges that trial counsel should have elicited the details of Vogel’s plea agreement and sentencing during cross-examination. The post-conviction court found that trial counsel knew, or should have known by reasonable diligence, that Vogel was originally charged with burglary and theft felonies that, but for a plea agreement that eliminated jail time, would have subjected Vogel to a maximum sentence of twenty-three years. Additionally, Vogel’s plea agreement provided that his felony was to be reduced to a misdemeanor upon successful completion of probation. However, trial counsel did not employ this information to impeach Vogel. Instead, the jury was only aware that Vogel had pled guilty and was in jail. “Thus,” the post-conviction court noted, “the jury likely presumed that Vogel pled guilty to the same charge for which Hollin was being tried, Conspiracy to Commit Burglary, a class B felony, and was serving a lengthy sentence for that offense.” Appellant’s App. at 128. “The jury had no idea that Vogel, the only person who took any property from the Wuestefeld residence, avoided a potential 23-year sentence by pleading guilty and was given probation.” Appellant’s App. at 128.
Trial counsel testified that he did not question Vogel about his plea agreement because he didn’t want to “make the trial about somebody else rather than about [my] own client.” PC-Tr. at 68. Further, he didn’t want to take the “risk of giving the prosecutor even more opportunities to talk about Mr. Hollin’s past record even, even by comparing him in some way with Mr. Vogel.” PC-Tr. at 68. Trial counsel elaborated that he did not want to “open the door” to Hollin’s criminal history by asking questions about Vogel’s criminal history. PC-Tr. at 69. The post-conviction court was not persuaded that this was sound reasoning. See Roche v. State, 690 N.E.2d 1115, 1126 (Ind. 1997) (noting that a matter of trial strategy “cannot form the basis for establishing ineffective assistance of trial counsel unless there was no sound basis for not pursuing the strategy” (emphasis added)). Instead, the court found that the case against Hollin was “essentially a credibility contest” that relied upon one question: Was there an agreement? Appellant’s App. at 137. “Thus, any evidence bearing on the respective credibility of Vogel and Hollin was critical to the outcome of this jury trial.” Appellant’s App. at 137. We agree with this assessment. More importantly, the State has not demonstrated that the post-conviction court’s finding in this regard is clearly erroneous.
In addition to concluding Hollin was entitled to a new trial because of the ineffective assistance of trial counsel, the post-conviction court also concluded Hollin was entitled to a new trial because of prosecutorial misconduct. In particular the trial court found that the jury did not know: there was a pending petition to revoke Vogel’s Ripley County probation; Vogel’s Decatur County theft conviction was also a Class C felony that would be reduced to a misdemeanor if he completed probation successfully; there was a pending petition to revoke Vogel’s Decatur County probation; there was a pending charge against Vogel in Decatur County for battery with a deadly weapon, a Class C felony; and that Vogel did not implicate Hollin in the burglary until after he was charged with battery with a deadly weapon and two petitions to revoke his probation were filed. According to the post-conviction court “the State never disclosed this information” in violation of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963). Appellant’s App. at 131.
Under Brady, the State has an affirmative duty to disclose material evidence favorable to the defendant. “To prevail on a Brady claim, a defendant must establish: (1) that the prosecution suppressed evidence; (2) that the evidence was favorable to the defense; and (3) that the evidence was material to an issue at trial.” Minnick v. State, 698 N.E.2d 745, 755 (Ind. 1998) (citing Brady, 373 U.S. at 87). Evidence is material when there is a reasonable probability that, had the evidence been disclosed to the defense, the result of the proceeding would have been different. Id.
Under the first prong of the Brady analysis, the post-conviction court found that trial counsel was not aware of Vogel’s pending criminal matters or Vogel’s pretrial statement and change of story. See Appellant’s App. at 121 (citing Tr. at 74 (“Nobody can control what [Vogel is going to] say today, but if he tries to say today that this was some kind of a plan, this will be the first time he’s come up with that story.”)). Under the second prong, we agree with the post-conviction court that the undisclosed evidence “was favorable to Hollin because it was impeaching – it showed a motivating factor for Vogel to cooperate with the State that would have affected the jury’s assessment of his credibility.” Appellant’s App. at 132. Further, Vogel’s testimony provided the only evidence that he and Hollin agreed to commit the charged offense. Appellant’s App. at 139. Of particular note, Vogel did not implicate Hollin in an agreement to burglarize homes until after Vogel was charged with a new felony and proceedings to revoke his probation had begun – approximately eight months after the crime took place. Under the third prong, given the importance of credibility in this case as discussed above, we conclude there was sufficient evidence for the post-conviction court’s conclusion that there was a reasonable probability that had this information been disclosed to the defense, the result of the trial would have been different.
Applying our standard of review to the State’s appeal in this case, we conclude that the post-conviction court’s judgment is not clearly erroneous and the State has not shown the existence of clear error – that which leaves us with a definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been made. We therefore affirm the post-conviction court’s grant of Hollin’s petition for post-conviction relief.
Dickson, C.J., and Sullivan, David and Massa, JJ., concur.