Martinez v. State

2023 ND 66, 988 N.W.2d 579

• Court: North Dakota Supreme Court
• Decided: March 31, 2023
• Docket: 20220281
• Status: Published

Opinion

FILED IN THE OFFICE OF THE CLERK OF SUPREME COURT MARCH 31, 2023 STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA

IN THE SUPREME COURT STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA

2023 ND 66

Wayne Herbert Martinez, Petitioner and Appellant v. State of North Dakota, Respondent and Appellee

No. 20220281

Appeal from the District Court of Morton County, South Central Judicial District, the Honorable Lindsey R. Nieuwsma, Judge.

AFFIRMED.

Per Curiam.

Kiara C. Kraus-Parr, Grand Forks, N.D., for petitioner and appellant; submitted on brief.

Chase R. Lingle, Assistant State’s Attorney, Mandan, N.D., for respondent and appellee; submitted on brief. Martinez v. State No. 20220281

[¶1] This Court affirmed Wayne Martinez’s criminal conviction on direct appeal. State v. Martinez, 2022 ND 21, 969 N.W.2d 442. Martinez now appeals from a district court order denying his application for postconviction relief on grounds of ineffective assistance of counsel and denying his motion to amend his application. Following a hearing, the court found that Martinez failed to establish his attorney’s conduct fell below an objective standard of reasonableness and, in addition, that he did not show the results of the trial would have been different absent the alleged error. We conclude the district court’s findings are not clearly erroneous. At the conclusion of the hearing on the petition, Martinez moved to amend his petition to allege additional grounds, and the district court denied the motion because there was no reason offered why these grounds could not have been raised earlier. We affirm under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(2) and (4).

[¶2] Jon J. Jensen, C.J. Daniel J. Crothers Lisa Fair McEvers Jerod E. Tufte Douglas A. Bahr