Odell v. State

931 N.W.2d 103
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedJuly 10, 2019
DocketA19-0059
StatusPublished

This text of 931 N.W.2d 103 (Odell 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
Odell v. State, 931 N.W.2d 103 (Mich. 2019).

Opinion

LILLEHAUG, Justice.

*105In 2000, appellant Darren Paul Odell shot and killed his father during an Easter family gathering. After a bifurcated bench trial, Odell was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. We affirmed Odell's conviction on direct appeal. In September 2018, Odell petitioned for postconviction relief, which the postconviction court summarily denied. Because the postconviction court did not abuse its discretion, we affirm.

FACTS

On Sunday, April 23, 2000, Odell attended Easter dinner at his great aunt's house in Blaine. After his father arrived, Odell retrieved a 9mm Beretta handgun from his truck and fatally shot his father in the chest three times. An Anoka County grand jury indicted Odell for first-degree murder.

During the months following Odell's arrest, defense counsel complained about Odell's inability to meaningfully participate in his defense due to Odell's declining mental health and worsening symptoms. Defense counsel filed a motion under Minn. R. Crim. P. 20.01 to determine whether Odell was competent to stand trial. The district court ordered a competency examination. Two doctors, including the State's expert witness, examined Odell. Each determined that Odell was not competent to stand trial. After an uncontested competency hearing, the district court agreed that Odell was not competent to stand trial. Odell was then civilly committed to the Minnesota Security Hospital in Saint Peter, where he was treated aggressively with neuroleptic medication.

After a period of hospitalization, Odell was deemed competent to stand trial. He pleaded not guilty by reason of mental illness and waived his right to a jury trial. At the conclusion of the first phase of the bifurcated bench trial, the district court found that the State had proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Odell had committed the crime of first-degree murder. At the end of the second phase, the district court concluded that Odell had failed to sustain his burden to prove the mental illness defense and sentenced him to life in prison. We affirmed Odell's conviction on direct appeal. State v. Odell , 676 N.W.2d 646 (Minn. 2004).

In September 2018, Odell filed a petition for postconviction relief, which the postconviction court summarily denied. Odell appeals.

ANALYSIS

We review a postconviction court's summary denial of postconviction relief for an abuse of discretion. Andersen v. State , 913 N.W.2d 417, 422 (Minn. 2018). A postconviction court abuses its discretion if it "exercised its discretion in an arbitrary or capricious manner, based its ruling on an erroneous view of the law, or made clearly erroneous factual findings." Reed v. State , 925 N.W.2d 11, 18 (Minn. 2019) (citation omitted) (internal quotation marks omitted). "If, taking the facts alleged in the light most favorable to the petitioner, the 'petition and the files and *106records of the proceeding conclusively show that the petitioner is entitled to no relief,' the postconviction court may dismiss the petition without an evidentiary hearing." Fox v. State , 913 N.W.2d 429, 433 (Minn. 2018) (quoting Minn. Stat. § 590.04, subd. 1 (2018) ).

A petitioner is not entitled to relief and "[n]o hearing is required if a petition is untimely under the postconviction statute of limitations." Bolstad v. State , 878 N.W.2d 493, 496 (Minn. 2016). A petition for postconviction relief is untimely if it is filed more than 2 years after "the entry of judgment of conviction or sentence if no direct appeal is filed" or "an appellate court's disposition of petitioner's direct appeal," whichever is later. Minn. Stat. § 590.01, subd. 4 (2018). The Legislature added this statute of limitations to the postconviction statute, which became effective on August 1, 2005. Act of June 2, 2005, ch. 136, art. 14, § 13, 2005 Minn. Laws 901, 1097-98. A petitioner whose conviction became final before the amendment's August 1, 2005 effective date had two years after that date to timely petition for postconviction relief. Id. at 1098.

Notwithstanding the 2-year limitations period, a postconviction court may hear an untimely petition if the petitioner has alleged facts that, if true, would meet one of the five exceptions to the 2-year statute of limitations. See Minn. Stat. § 590.01, subd. 4(b). An exception must be invoked within 2 years of the date that the claim arises. Id. , subd. 4(c). One such exception is the interests-of-justice exception. Id. , subd. 4(b)(5). A claim under this exception "must relate to an injustice that delayed the filing of the petition, not to the substantive merit of the petition," Hooper v. State , 888 N.W.2d 138, 142 (Minn. 2016), and applies only in "exceptional and extraordinary situations," Carlton v. State , 816 N.W.2d 590, 607 (Minn. 2012) (citations omitted) (internal quotation marks omitted).

Odell's conviction became final 90 days after our March 2004 decision on his direct appeal. See Berkovitz v. State , 826 N.W.2d 203, 207 (Minn. 2013) (stating that a conviction becomes final for purposes of

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Related

State v. Odell
676 N.W.2d 646 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 2004)
Jason Lee Bolstad v. State of Minnesota
878 N.W.2d 493 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 2016)
Brian Keith Hooper v. State of Minnesota
888 N.W.2d 138 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 2016)
Carlton v. State
816 N.W.2d 590 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 2012)
Berkovitz v. State
826 N.W.2d 203 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 2013)
Andersen v. State
913 N.W.2d 417 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 2018)
Fox v. State
913 N.W.2d 429 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 2018)
Reed v. State
925 N.W.2d 11 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 2019)

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Bluebook (online)
931 N.W.2d 103, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/odell-v-state-minn-2019.