Roby v. State

808 N.W.2d 20, 2011 Minn. LEXIS 769, 2011 WL 6783876
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedDecember 28, 2011
DocketNo. A11-0450
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 808 N.W.2d 20 (Roby 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
Roby v. State, 808 N.W.2d 20, 2011 Minn. LEXIS 769, 2011 WL 6783876 (Mich. 2011).

Opinion

OPINION

GILDEA, Chief Justice.

Appellant Gary Roby was convicted of aiding and abetting the crimes of first-degree premeditated murder, first-degree murder while committing aggravated robbery, and second-degree intentional murder for his role in the shooting death of Marlizza McIntyre. We affirmed Roby’s conviction on direct appeal. State v. Roby (Roby I), 463 N.W.2d 506 (Minn.1990). In this case, Roby appeals the denial of his third petition for postconviction relief. Because we conclude that the postconviction court properly denied Roby’s petition, we affirm.

The facts surrounding Marlizza McIntyre’s murder are set forth in detail in Roby I. Id. at 507-09. We limit our discussion of the facts to those directly relevant to this appeal. McIntyre was killed by one shot to the back of her head while she was being held down and robbed on May 22, 1989, in the kitchen of a Saint Paul apartment. Lillian Dunn-Simmons, Kenneth Fisher, L.Y., A.J., S.L., appellant Gary Roby, and two of appellant’s brothers were all in the apartment at the time of the murder.

Fisher testified that on the day of the murder, yelling and screaming from the kitchen of the apartment woke him. When he went to investigate the noise, he saw McIntyre being held face down on the floor. Dunn-Simmons and appellant’s brothers were holding McIntyre down while Roby straddled McIntyre’s back and removed some of her jewelry and at least $80 from her bra. Fisher testified that Roby pulled out a revolver, pulled back McIntyre’s hair, and shot her in the back of the head.

S.L. also testified that McIntyre was killed by a shot to the back of the head. But she said that Dunn-Simmons fired the fatal shot while an unknown black man held McIntyre down. The State, however, impeached S.L. with two prior statements in which she had indicated that the man holding McIntyre down was, or could have been, Roby.

L.Y. testified that she did not see the murder, but when she looked into the kitchen she saw Dunn-Simmons and Roby near McIntyre’s dead body. She also testified that after the murder no one talked about what had happened.

A.J. testified that she saw McIntyre and Roby in the kitchen struggling for a gun with no one else near them. Then, McIntyre called Dunn-Simmons for help, and Dunn-Simmons joined the struggle. While all three were struggling for the gun, a shot was fired into the floor. After this initial shot, A.J. testified that Roby and McIntyre let go of the gun and Dunn-Simmons shot McIntyre.

In addition to the testimony described above, the State also relied on Roby’s statements to police and the circumstances surrounding his arrest. When questioned, Roby gave the police conflicting stories, [23]*23but he eventually admitted to being involved in the events surrounding McIntyre’s murder. He told police that Dunn-Simmons had asked him for shells and that he had sold her a revolver about a week before the murder. He further told the police he had a private conversation with Dunn-Simmons on the stairs leading up to the apartment just before the murder. During this conversation, Dunn-Simmons told Roby that she did not have any cocaine or money to pay for the gun he had sold her. But Roby told Dunn-Simmons “he knew where she could get [the money].” Dunn-Simmons then “indicated that they would go upstairs and get the money.” Roby said that Dunn-Simmons never specifically said that they were going to rob McIntyre, but that is what he understood her statement to mean. Roby also admitted to having his hand on the gun when it fired.1 When Roby was arrested, he was wearing a distinctive necklace known to be McIntyre’s. While in jail awaiting questioning, Roby told Fisher that Fisher was a “dead man” for cooperating with the police. Roby also told Fisher that Fisher should tell the police that Roby found McIntyre’s necklace on the floor.

Roby’s defense at trial was that Dunn-Simmons, acting alone, decided to rob McIntyre and that Dunn-Simmons fired the fatal shot. Her motive for the killing, according to Roby, was to end a love triangle between Dunn-Simmons, McIntyre, and an unidentified man.

After being convicted, Roby filed a direct appeal. Roby argued that evidence was erroneously admitted, his constitutional right to confront witnesses was violated, he was denied effective assistance of counsel, the State obtained his conviction through perjured testimony, and his right to due process was violated. We affirmed Roby’s conviction, concluding that the State’s evidence-was “overwhelmingly persuasive of [Roby]’s guilt.” Roby I, 463 N.W.2d at 510. Thereafter, Roby filed two postconviction petitions, one in 1994, and the other in 1995. We affirmed the denial of both postconviction petitions in Roby v. State (Roby II), 531 N.W.2d 482 (Minn.1995), and Roby v. State (Roby III), 547 N.W.2d 354 (Minn.1996), respectively.

Roby filed this, his third petition for postconviction relief, on March 27, 2009. His petition is based on five pieces of evidence that Roby contends are newly discovered evidence, and he argues that his claims should be considered in the interests of justice. The evidence at issue is: a 1989 police report, a 2002 letter from Dunn-Simmons, a 2003 affidavit of V.C., a 2007 affidavit of T.B., and a 2008 affidavit of C.H.

The postconviction court originally dismissed Roby’s entire petition as untimely under Minn.Stat. § 590.01, subd. 4(a) (2010), because Roby failed to specifically invoke an exception to the 2-year statute of limitations. Roby appealed, and we found that Roby had properly invoked the newly discovered evidence and interests of justice exceptions set forth in Minn.Stat. § 590.01, subd.' 4(b)(2) and (5) (2010). Accordingly, we reversed and remanded to the postconviction court for a determination of whether Roby’s petition was time-barred under Minn.Stat. § 590.01, subd. 4(c) (2010), and if not, whether he had actually established either of the invoked exceptions in Minn.Stat. § 590.01 subd. [24]*244(b) (2010). See Roby v. State (Roby IV), 787 N.W.2d 186, 191-92 (Minn.2010).

On remand, the postconviction court denied Roby’s petition without an evidentiary hearing, holding that Minn.Stat. § 590.01, subd. 4(c) barred the claims that were based on the 1989 police report and the 2002 letter from Dunn-Simmons. Without considering whether Roby had actually established any of the exceptions listed in Minn.Stat. § 590.01, subd. 4(b), the post-conviction court concluded that Roby’s remaining claims failed on the merits. Roby appealed.

On appeal from a postconviction court’s denial of relief, the de novo standard applies to our review of issues of law and the clearly erroneous standard applies to our review of the court’s findings of fact. Riley v. State, 792 N.W.2d 831, 833 (Minn.2011). Postconviction courts are required to hold an evidentiary hearing unless “the petition and the files and records of the proceeding conclusively show that the petitioner is entitled to no relief.” Minn.Stat. § 590.04, subd. 1 (2010); Leake v. State, 737 N.W.2d 531, 535 (Minn.2007).

Roby makes three arguments on appeal.

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Bluebook (online)
808 N.W.2d 20, 2011 Minn. LEXIS 769, 2011 WL 6783876, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/roby-v-state-minn-2011.