Gregory Dickens v. State of Indiana

997 N.E.2d 56, 2013 WL 5758851, 2013 Ind. App. LEXIS 525
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 24, 2013
Docket71A03-1304-PC-101
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 997 N.E.2d 56 (Gregory Dickens v. State of Indiana) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gregory Dickens v. State of Indiana, 997 N.E.2d 56, 2013 WL 5758851, 2013 Ind. App. LEXIS 525 (Ind. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

OPINION

BRADFORD, Judge.

CASE SUMMARY

Appellant-Petitioner Gregory Dickens was convicted of murdering a police officer while the officer was engaged in his official duties. Dickens’s conviction was affirmed by the Indiana Supreme Court on direct appeal. Dickens sought post-conviction relief, arguing, inter alia, that he was entitled to a new trial in light of newly discovered evidence, that he was entitled to a new trial because the State withheld evidence from the defense in violation of Brady v. Maryland,, 1 and that he received ineffective assistance of trial counsel. Dickens now appeals from the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief. Concluding that Dickens was not entitled to a new trial in light of either the newly discovered evidence or the alleged Brady violation, and that Dickens did not receive ineffective assistance of trial counsel, we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The Indiana Supreme Court’s opinion in Dickens’s direct appeal instructs us as to the underlying facts leading to this post-conviction appeal:

On August 24, 1997, sixteen-year-old Dickens was riding bikes with Quinton Price, known as “Paulie.” While patrolling the area, Officer Scott Hanley advised Corporal Paul Deguch by radio that Dickens was riding a valuable bicycle that he suspected was stolen. Later on that evening, Deguch spotted Dickens and Paulie and approached them in his patrol car. Paulie rode off, while Dickens rode up to the nearest house, 1024 Talbot Street, alighted from the bike, and went up on the porch. De-guch shined his spotlight onto the porch, exited his car, and followed Dickens onto the porch as Dickens was knocking on the door. Dickens shot Corporal De-guch in his head and shoulder and killed him.
The State charged Dickens with murder and sought the death penalty because the victim was a law enforcement officer. A jury found Dickens guilty, and recommended life imprisonment without parole, which the trial court imposed.

Dickens v. State, 754 N.E.2d 1, 3-4 (Ind.2001). The Indiana Supreme Court affirmed Dickens’s conviction on direct appeal. Id. at 4-7.

On August 26, 2002, Dickens filed a pro se petition for post-conviction relief (“PCR”). On November 22, 2011, March 6, 2012, August 3, 2012, and November 15, 2012, Dickens, by counsel, filed amended PCR petitions. The post-conviction court conducted a two-day evidentiary hearing on Dickens’s last amended PCR petition on December 18 and 19, 2012. During this hearing, Dickens, by counsel, presented argument in support of his amended PCR petition. On March 4, 2013, the post-conviction court issued an order denying Dickens’s request for PCR.

DISCUSSION AND DECISION

Post-conviction procedures do not afford the petitioner with a super-appeal. Williams v. State, 706 N.E.2d *60 149, 153 (Ind.1999). Instead, they create a narrow remedy for subsequent collateral challenges to convictions, challenges which must be based on grounds enumerated in the post-conviction rules. Id. A petitioner who has been denied post-conviction relief appeals from a negative judgment and as a result, faces a rigorous standard of review on appeal. Dewitt v. State, 755 N.E.2d 167, 169 (Ind.2001); Collier v. State, 715 N.E.2d 940, 942 (Ind.Ct.App.1999), trans. denied.

Post-conviction proceedings are civil in nature. Stevens v. State, 770 N.E.2d 739, 745 (Ind.2002). Therefore, in order to prevail, a petitioner must establish his claims by a preponderance of the evidence. Ind. Post-Conviction Rule 1(5); Stevens, 770 N.E.2d at 745. When appealing from the denial of a PCR petition, a petitioner must convince this court that the evidence, taken as a whole, “leads unmistakably to a conclusion opposite that reached by the post-conviction court.” Stevens, 770 N.E.2d at 745. “It is only where the evidence is without conflict and leads to but one conclusion, and the post-conviction court has reached the opposite conclusion, that its decision will be disturbed as contrary to law.” Godby v. State, 809 N.E.2d 480, 482 (Ind.Ct.App.2004), trans. denied. The post-conviction court is the sole judge of the weight of the evidence and the credibility of the witnesses. Fisher v. State, 810 N.E.2d 674, 679 (Ind.2004). We therefore accept the post-conviction court’s findings of fact unless they are clearly erroneous but give no deference to its conclusions of law. Id.

I. Newly Discovered Evidence

Dickens contends that the post-conviction court erroneously determined that he was not entitled to a new trial in light of certain newly discovered evidence. Specifically, Dickens argues that a report issued by the National Research Counsel (“NRC”), which was completed in 2004, established that the previously accepted and relied upon comparative bullet lead analysis (“CBLA”) conducted by the FBI was unreliable. As such, Dickens claims that the newly discovered NRC report was relevant and would warrant a new trial because it would render inadmissible FBI forensic examiner Charles Peters’s testimony about the CBLA conducted on the spent bullets recovered from the crime scene and the unspent bullets found in Dickens’s bedroom prior to Dickens’s trial. 2

The Indiana Supreme Court has enunciated nine criteria for admission of newly discovered evidence.

[N]ew evidence will mandate a new trial only when the defendant demonstrates that: (1) the evidence has been discovered since the trial; (2) it is material and relevant; (3) it is not cumulative; (4) it is not merely impeaching; (5) it is not privileged or incompetent; (6) due diligence was used to discover it in time for trial; (7) the evidence is worthy of credit; (8) it can be produced upon a retrial of the case; and (9) it will probably produce a different result at retrial.

Taylor v. State, 840 N.E.2d 324, 329-30 (Ind.2006) (citing Carter v. State, 738 N.E.2d 665, 671 (Ind.2000)) (brackets in original). On appeal, the denial of a peti *61 tion predicated on newly discovered evidence is considered a discretionary ruling and is reviewed deferentially. Fox v. State, 568 N.E.2d 1006, 1007 (Ind.1991) (citing Hammers v. State, 502 N.E.2d 1339 (Ind.1987)). Accordingly, we analyze the nine factors “ ‘-with care, as the basis for newly discovered evidence should be received with great caution and the alleged new evidence carefully scrutinized.’ ” Taylor,

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Bluebook (online)
997 N.E.2d 56, 2013 WL 5758851, 2013 Ind. App. LEXIS 525, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gregory-dickens-v-state-of-indiana-indctapp-2013.