Johnson v. State

697 N.W.2d 194, 2005 Minn. LEXIS 336, 2005 WL 1355529
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedJune 9, 2005
DocketA04-1822
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 697 N.W.2d 194 (Johnson v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Johnson v. State, 697 N.W.2d 194, 2005 Minn. LEXIS 336, 2005 WL 1355529 (Mich. 2005).

Opinion

OPINION

MEYER, Justice.

Appellant Richard Robert Johnson appeals from the postconviction court’s denial of his second petition for relief. We affirm.

Johnson was convicted of first-degree murder for the November 11, 1989, rape and murder by strangulation of Dorothy Jean Harrison and was sentenced to life in prison. The facts of the underlying crime in this case are set out in detail in State v. Johnson, 498 N.W.2d 10 (Minn.1993). At trial, the state presented DNA evidence taken from Johnson’s blood and a sample of semen taken from the victim’s clothing. Id. at 11-12. In his direct appeal, Johnson challenged his conviction on two grounds: (1) the DNA evidence was improperly admitted; and (2) his constitutional right to a speedy trial was violated. Id. at 11. With respect to the DNA evidence, Johnson, who is Native American, challenged the validity of the DNA typing methods used by the FBI and the statistical frequency evidence based on the FBI’s Caucasian DNA database. Id. at 14-15. 1 We affirmed his conviction, holding that both the DNA evidence and statistical evidence were properly admitted and that his constitutional right to a speedy trial was not violated. Id. at 10.

In his first postconviction appeal, Johnson raised a number of grand jury and trial errors and alleged bias by the post-conviction court. Johnson v. State, 528 N.W.2d 238, 238-39 (Minn.1995). We affirmed the denial of relief, holding that all issues raised in the petition were known at the time of his direct appeal and were procedurally barred. Id. at 239. We also held that his claim of alleged bias lacked support. Id.

*197 In this second postconviction appeal, Johnson claims that an investigation report by the Department of Justice regarding alleged irregularities in the FBI crime laboratories was newly discovered evidence that would entitle him to a new trial. 2 Johnson also claims that the post-conviction court improperly granted the state continuances of the postconviction ev-identiary hearing and violated his constitutional right to a fair and impartial hearing.

I.

We review a postconviction court’s denial of relief for abuse of discretion. Perry v. State, 595 N.W.2d 197, 200 (Minn.1999). Appellate review of postcon-viction proceedings is limited to whether there is sufficient evidence in the record to sustain the findings of the postconviction court. State v. Rainer, 502 N.W.2d 784, 787 (Minn.1993).

To reopen a case based on newly discovered evidence, the defendant must prove: (1) that the evidence was not known to him or his counsel at the time of the trial; (2) that the evidence could not have been discovered through due diligence before the trial; (3) that the evidence is not cumulative, impeaching, or doubtful; and (4) that the evidence would probably produce an acquittal or a more favorable result. Wieland v. State, 457 N.W.2d 712, 714 (Minn.1990). We have decided that properly tested DNA evidence is scientifically reliable and trustworthy. State v. Schwartz, 447 N.W.2d 422, 426 (Minn.1989). We have also decided that DNA testing conducted by the FBI under the TWGDAM guidelines is admissible. State v. Jobe, 486 N.W.2d 407, 420 (Minn.1992).

Further, “where direct appeal has once been taken, all matters raised therein, and all claims known but not raised, will not be considered upon a subsequent petition for postconviction relief.” State v. Knaffla, 309 Minn. 246, 252, 243 N.W.2d 737, 741 (1976). Any claim that should have been known, but was not raised, at the time of direct appeal is also barred by Knaffla. King v. State, 649 N.W.2d 149, 156 (Minn.2002).

Johnson argues that the investigation report issued by the Department of Justice was newly discovered evidence because neither the report nor the alleged irregularities at the FBI crime laboratories were known to him at the time of his trial or direct appeal. He further argues that the investigation report showed the unreliability and untrustworthiness of the DNA evidence in his case. He alleges that the FBI failed to comply with the TWGDAM guidelines in his case and that the guidelines themselves are not reliable. He also alleges inconsistent testimony by Dr. Dwight Adams, an FBI expert, at the Frye eviden-tiary hearing.

The postconviction court reviewed the investigation report and specifically found that “[t]he content of the report * * * fails to address the analysis performed on the evidence in this case, the analyst who performed it (Dr. Adams), or any actions by the DNA analysis unit that would jeopardize the accuracy of their testing results either generally or specifically to this case.” The court noted that the Inspector General concluded that most of the whis-tleblower’s allegations, including those relied on by Johnson, were unsubstantiated. The court further found that, although the *198 report was not known to Johnson at the time of his direct appeal, the report was unlikely to produce an acquittal or a more favorable result. Having reviewed the record and the report, we conclude that there is'sufficient evidence in the record to sustain the findings of the postconviction court.

Further, any issue related to the TWGDAM guidelines and their application in Johnson’s case was raised and decided in the direct appeal and -therefore is barred by Knaffla. Any issue relating to the testimony of Dr. Adams should have been known,- but was not raised, at the time of direct appeal and therefore is also barred by Knaffla. Therefore, .we hold that the postconviction court did not abuse, its discretion in denying Johnson’s petition for relief.

II.

Johnson also claims that the post-conviction court improperly granted con-, tinuances to the state.

The decision to grant or deny a motion for a continuance lies within the sound discretion of the district court and will only be reversed upon a showing of abuse of discretion. State v. Turnipseed, 297 N.W.2d 308, 311 (Minn.1980). A defendant must show prejudice to justify a reversal. State v. Rainer, 411 N.W.2d 490, 495 (Minn.1987).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
697 N.W.2d 194, 2005 Minn. LEXIS 336, 2005 WL 1355529, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/johnson-v-state-minn-2005.