Leake v. State

737 N.W.2d 531, 2007 Minn. LEXIS 454, 2007 WL 2325135
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedAugust 16, 2007
DocketA06-1357
StatusPublished
Cited by145 cases

This text of 737 N.W.2d 531 (Leake 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
Leake v. State, 737 N.W.2d 531, 2007 Minn. LEXIS 454, 2007 WL 2325135 (Mich. 2007).

Opinions

OPINION

PAGE, Justice.

Appellant Pierre LaMont Leake appeals from the district court’s denial of his petition for posteonviction relief without an evidentiary hearing. Leake was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder for the 2003 stabbing death of Megan Fisher and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of release. State v. Leake, 699 N.W.2d 312, 315 (Minn.2005). We affirmed Leake’s conviction and sentence on direct appeal. Id.1 We held: (1) that the evidence with respect to premeditation was sufficient, id. at 321; (2) that Leake’s admission that he used force in commission of a prior offense supported application of the heinous crime statute mandating a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of release, id. at 324-25; (3) that jury verdicts of guilty as to first-degree murder but not guilty as to second-degree murder were logically but not legally inconsistent, id. at 326; (4) that purported prosecutorial misconduct during closing argument did not satisfy the plain error test, id. at 326-28; and (5) that Leake failed to demonstrate that the indictment should be overturned, id. at 328. Accordingly, we affirmed Leake’s conviction and the sentence of life in prison without the possibility of release. Id. at 315.

Leake subsequently filed a pro se petition for postconviction relief seeking an evidentiary hearing, a new trial, vacation of his sentence, and other relief. In the petition, he asserted that: (1) the trial court judge made an improper ex parte communication to the jury; (2) the trial court’s ruling on the applicability of the spousal communication privilege was erroneous; (3) the trial judge was biased against him; (4) the jury instructions were confusing or inaccurate; (5) the presen-tence investigation contained inaccuracies; and (6) he was denied effective assistance of trial and appellate counsel. The post-conviction court denied the petition without holding an evidentiary hearing. In denying the petition, the court found that Leake failed to allege facts demonstrating that the performance of his appellate counsel was objectively unreasonable and failed to show that the outcome of his direct appeal would have been different but for the alleged errors of his appellate counsel. The court also found that a number of Leake’s claims, although they were known or should have been known at the time of his direct appeal, were not raised at that time and were therefore barred by the rule set out in this court’s decision in State [535]*535v. Knaffla, 309 Minn. 246, 243 N.W.2d 737 (1976). This appeal followed. The state did not file a brief opposing Leake’s appeal. With the exception of one issue, we affirm the postconviction court’s denial of review. Because we cannot, on the record presented, determine whether Leake was denied effective assistance of counsel in connection with advice he received from his trial counsel about the consequences of rejecting a plea offer, we remand to the postconviction court for an evidentiary hearing on that issue.

When reviewing a postconviction court’s decisions, we examine only whether the postconviction court’s findings are supported by sufficient evidence. Russell v. State, 562 N.W.2d 670, 672 (Minn.1997). We will reverse a decision of a postconviction court only if that court abused its discretion. Id. However, we review issues of law de novo. Schleicher v. State, 718 N.W.2d 440, 445 (Minn.2006). Postconviction courts are required to hold an eviden-tiary hearing and make findings of fact and conclusions of law “[ujnless the petition and the files and records of the proceedings conclusively show that the petitioner is entitled to no relief.” Minn.Stat. § 590.04, subd. 1 (2006). Allegations in a postconviction petition must be “more than argumentative assertions without factual support,” Hodgson v. State, 540 N.W.2d 515, 517 (Minn.1995), and an evidentiary hearing is unnecessary if the petitioner fails to allege facts that are sufficient to entitle him or her to the relief requested. Fratzke v. State, 450 N.W.2d 101, 102 (Minn.1990).

Once a direct appeal has been taken, all claims raised in that appeal, all claims known at the time of that appeal, and all claims that should have been known at the time of that appeal will not be considered in a subsequent petition for postconvietion relief. Black v. State, 560 N.W.2d 83, 85 (Minn.1997); Knaffla, 309 Minn, at 252, 243 N.W.2d at 741. But there are two exceptions to this “Knaffla rule.” First, if a claim is known to a defendant at the time of direct appeal but is not raised, it will not be barred by the rule if the claim’s novelty was so great that its legal basis was not reasonably available when direct appeal was taken. Roby v. State, 531 N.W.2d 482, 484 (Minn.1995). Second, even if the claim’s legal basis was sufficiently available, substantive review may be allowed “when fairness so requires and when the petitioner did not ‘deliberately and inexcusably’ fail to raise the issue on direct appeal.” Russell, 562 N.W.2d at 672 (quoting Roby, 531 N.W.2d at 484). Leake does not contend that either of these exceptions apply to any of the claims in his petition.2

When a claim of ineffective assistance of trial counsel can be adjudicated on the basis of the trial record, it must be brought on direct appeal or it is barred by the Knaffla rule if raised in a postconviction petition. Torres v. State, 688 N.W.2d 569, 572 (Minn.2004). But a claim of ineffective assistance of trial counsel that cannot be resolved on the trial court record alone need not be brought in a direct appeal and may be brought in a postcon-[536]*536viction petition. Id. Claims of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel on direct appeal are not barred by the Knajfla rule in a first postconviction appeal because they could not have been brought at any earlier time. See Schneider v. State, 725 N.W.2d 516, 521 (Minn.2007).

To receive an evidentiary hearing on an ineffective assistance of counsel claim, a petitioner must allege facts that would “affirmatively show that his attorney’s representation fell below an objective standard of reasonableness, and that but for the errors, the result would have been different.” Wilson v. State, 582 N.W.2d 882, 885 (Minn.1998); see also Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 690-94, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). An attorney’s performance is substandard when the attorney does not exercise “the customary skills and diligence that a reasonably competent attorney would [exercise] under the circumstances.” State v. Doppler, 590 N.W.2d 627, 633 (Minn.1999) (quotation marks and citation omitted). Matters of trial strategy lie within the discretion of trial counsel and will not be second-guessed by appellate courts. See id.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
737 N.W.2d 531, 2007 Minn. LEXIS 454, 2007 WL 2325135, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/leake-v-state-minn-2007.