Daprato v. State of Maine

CourtSuperior Court of Maine
DecidedOctober 27, 2003
DocketKENcr-01-129
StatusUnpublished

This text of Daprato v. State of Maine (Daprato v. State of Maine) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Maine primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Daprato v. State of Maine, (Me. Super. Ct. 2003).

Opinion

RECEIVED AND FILED

KENNEBEG SUPERIOR COURT a STATE OF MAINE OCT 27 2003 SUPERIOR COURT CRIMINAL ACTION KENNEBEC, ss. NANCY DESJARDIN DOCKET NO. CR-01- 120 . QLERKOFCOURTS iy eA ID|en7 09% JASON DAPRATO, Petitioner v. ORDER ON PETITION FOR POST-CONVICTION STATE OF MAINE, REVIEW DONALD L. Ga" ST Respondent LAW Ly

DE 1% 993 This matter is before the court on petition for post-conviction review pursuant to

15 M.RS.A. §§ 2121-2132 (Supp. 1999). Petitioner was charged by indictment of class D reckless conduct (count I) and class D aggravated assault (counts II, II and IV). He was convicted of counts II, IIJ and IV and was sentenced to six years to each count all but four years suspended, concurrently with each other and consecutive to CR-94-146 (Lincoln County) and four years probation.

The original petition was filed May 7, 2001, seeking a vacation of his convictions and order for new trial. It alleged ineffective assistance of counsel based upon allegations of failure to allow petitioner to testify at his trial, failure to interview and call witnesses and failure to seek change of venue of the trial. In addition, the petitioner complained that he failed to receive appropriate credit for pretrial incarceration.

Petitioner filed an amended petition on July 20, 2001, with four grounds of ineffective assistance of counsel including failure to assist petitioner in testifying as to self-defense, failure to interview and call witnesses, failure to obtain a change of venue, failure to obtain recording of grand jury testimony, and failure to provide mitigating evidence at hearing on sentence.

After the post-conviction assignment order, prehearing order resulting from

conference and change of counsel, a disagreement arose as to the matters to be heard at hearing on the petition. By its order of September 5, 2002, the court ordered that the issues to be tried in the matter within the allegation of ineffective assistance of counsel were to be: (1) “failure of counsel to call petitioner as a witness,” (2) “inadequate cross- examination of witnesses,” (3) “failure to call witnesses as listed in petition adding Lindsey Costigan,” and (4) “failure to record grand jury testimony.” The order specifically noted that the failure to request change of venue allegation was specifically withdrawn by petitioner.

Hearing on this matter was held April 4, 2003. Petitioner was present and both petitioner and respondent were represented by counsel. At the conclusion of the hearing, the court ordered post-hearing memoranda of law to be filed. In the memorandum of the petitioner, arguments are advanced of trial counsel's failure to provide the defendant's right to testify, failure to interview and call witnesses, failure to file motions in limine, failure to obtain minutes of the grand jury proceedings, and failure to properly use exculpatory information. The court assumes from this presentation that petitioner has waived all other claims as grounds for assertion of ineffective assistance of counsel.

There is essential agreement between counsel as to the law in Maine regarding ineffective assistance of counsel resulting from development of Maine cases and the United States Supreme Court. The standards are fully developed in State v. Brewer; Brewer v. State, 1997 ME 177; 699 A.2d 1139. In determining whether trial counsel’s performance is ineffective for purposes of the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article L § 6 of the Maine Constitution, the court must determine whether there has been serous incompetency, inefficiency or inattention of counsel — performance by counsel which falls measurably below that which might be expected

from an ordinary fallible attorney and has such ineffective representation by counsel rightly deprived the defendant of an otherwise available substantial ground of defense. Lang v. Murch, 438 A.2d 914 (Me. 1981). The petitioner bears the burden of establishing “not only that trial counsel’s performance was deficient but also that the deficiency likely affected the outcome of the trial.” State v. Jurak, 594 A.2d 553 (Me. 1991). The

defendant must first establish:

... that counsel's performance was deficient. This requires showing that counsel made errors so serious that counsel was not functioning as the ‘counsel’ guaranteed the defendant by the Sixth Amendment. Second, the defendant must show that the deficient performance prejudiced the defense. This requires showing that counsel’s errors were so serious as to deprive the defendant of a fair trial, a trial whose result is reliable. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 80 L.Ed.2d 674, 104 S.Ct. 2052 (1984). The Strickland test is “virtually identical” to the test established by the Maine court in Lang. Kimball v. State, 490 A.2d 653 (Me. 1985). Thus, this court must determine whether the petitioner has established that his trial attorney’s performance deprived him of a substantial ground of defense, Lang, 438 A.2d at 915, or that counsel’s performance likely affected the outcome of the trial. Whitmore v. State, 670 A.2d 394 (Me. 1996). Failure to prove prejudice resulting from an attorney’s performance precludes relief regardless of the quality of that performance. Jurak, 594 A.2d at 555. In addition, this court must accord “trial counsel great deference in their tactical decisions and these decisions are reviewable solely for ‘manifest unreasonableness.’ Manifest unreasonableness only occurs when counsel’s performance deprives the defendant of a substantial ground of defense.” Twist v. State, 617 A.2d 548 (Me. 1992). Finally, by way of standards to be applied by this court, is the principle that the evaluation of potential witnesses and “whether their appearance can

be expected to benefit or injure his client’s case” is a matter left to the professional

judgment of the attorney. Levesque v. State, 664 A.2d 849 (Me. 1995). Petitioner’s conviction arose from an incident in and outside a sandwich shop where a fight broke out in the parking lot after words were exchanged inside the shop. The fight was between the defendant and a person accompanying him against seven boys of high school age. During the course of the altercation, the defendant utilized an aluminum baseball bat which is not disputed. The jury found that petitioner did not strike one of the assailants with his truck. There is a dispute as to whether the petitioner invited the boys outside to fight. The petitioner asserts that he was simply motioning for his companion to leave the shop but it is likely that the jury concluded that that motion was used or at least interpreted by the high school boys to be an invitation to “step outside.”

The petitioner has argued, and the trial evidence substantiated, that the defendant was simply acting in self-defense and, indeed, the court gave the self-defense instruction. Petitioner argues that because of that specific defense, it was serious error for his counsel not to assure that he testified in his own defense. The petitioner testified at the post-conviction review hearing that his counsel never discussed with him the matter of whether or not to testify, that counsel never reviewed with him his expected testimony or made any attempt to limit any efforts by the State to impeach him by adverse information.

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Related

Lee v. Lee
33 U.S. 44 (Supreme Court, 1834)
Strickland v. Washington
466 U.S. 668 (Supreme Court, 1984)
United States v. Samuel N. Poe
352 F.2d 639 (D.C. Circuit, 1965)
United States v. Bruce Ernest Bernloehr
833 F.2d 749 (Eighth Circuit, 1987)
Ronald Rogers-Bey v. Michael P. Lane
896 F.2d 279 (Seventh Circuit, 1990)
United States v. Frank Porter, Jr.
924 F.2d 395 (First Circuit, 1991)
United States v. Donald Teague
953 F.2d 1525 (Eleventh Circuit, 1992)
Whitmore v. State
670 A.2d 394 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1996)
State v. Brewer
1997 ME 177 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1997)
Lang v. Murch
438 A.2d 914 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1981)
Levesque v. State
664 A.2d 849 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1995)
State v. Jurek
594 A.2d 553 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1991)
Kimball v. State
490 A.2d 653 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1985)
Twist v. State
617 A.2d 548 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1992)

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