State ex rel. Marcell v. State

193 So. 3d 138, 2016 La. LEXIS 1286, 2016 WL 3129262
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedMay 27, 2016
DocketNo. 2015-KH-1239
StatusPublished

This text of 193 So. 3d 138 (State ex rel. Marcell v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State ex rel. Marcell v. State, 193 So. 3d 138, 2016 La. LEXIS 1286, 2016 WL 3129262 (La. 2016).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

^Denied. Relator fails to show entitlement to' DNA testing. La.C.Cr.P. art. 926.1. Relator also fails to demonstrate he was denied the effective assistance of cbunsel during plea negotiations under the standard of Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984) or that he entered his guilty pleas involuntarily. We attach hereto and make a part hereof the District Court’s written reasons denying relator’s application. . .

Relator has now fully litigated his application for post-conviction relief in. state court. Similar to federal habeas relief,,see 28 U.S.C. § 2244, Louisiana post-conviction procedure envisions the filing of a second or successive application only under the narrow circumstances provided in La.C.Cr.P. art. 930.4 and within the limitations period as set out in La.C.Cr.P. art. 930.8. Notably, the Legislature in 2013 La. Acts 251 amended that article to make the procedural bars against' successive filings mandatory. Relator’s' claims have now been fully litigated in accord with La.C.Cr.P. art. 930.6, and this denial is final. Hereafter, unless he can show that one of the narrow exceptions authorizing the filing of a successive | ^application applies, relator has exhausted his right to state collateral review. The District, Court is ordered to record a minute entry consistent with this per curiam.

ATTACHMENT

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ORDER

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CONSIDERING Mr. Marcel’s application for "Post Conviction Relief1.”

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Mr. Marcel is not entitled to relief as all material questions of &ct and law presented were resolved based on the fece of the petition and record negating the need for an evidentiary hearing. This application for Post Conviction Relief failed to demonstrate ineffective assistance of counsel.

THUS, Mr. Marcel’s petition is DENIED.

SIGNED.tMs 1st day of April, 2015, Houma, Louisiana

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STATE Oír LOUISIANA 32* JUDICIAL DISTRICT

VERSUS PARISH OF TEmmOME

TRavis marcell STATE OF LOUISIANA

DOCKET NUMBER. 630,898 DIVISION “A”

REASONS TOR JUD GMEMT DENYING TETnTONER’S MOTION FOR POST CONVICTION RELIEF

Upon information and belief, Petitioner, Travis MareeU, asserts that be has a meritorious constitutional claim to yacate his conviction and sentence. He pled guilty on March, 13, 2013. (Petit PCR pgl) Petitioner pled guilty to aggravated incest, a violation of La. R.S,14:78.1, and indecent behavior with a juvenile, a violation of ⅛ R.S. 14:81. He was sentenced to twenty years suspended upon serving fifteen years at the Department of Corrections with five years of supervised probation fiom the moment of release, (Pet’r Felony Boylcta Form) Petitioner argues that he received ineffective assistance of counsel in violation of the Federal Constitution’s Sixth Amendment and corresponding provision of the Louisiana Constitution.

Petitioner alleges counsel Med to properly defend petitioner on two specific occasions, First, Counsel failed to object when the trial court did not advise him of his rights in open court. Second, Counsel 'failed to submit the results of a DNA tost which allegedly established his innocence. After review and consideration, the trial court believes that aft material questions of fact and law can properly be resolved without an evidentiary hearing based solely upon the record. La. C.Cr.P. 928.

LAW'. Sixth Amendment and StrickUmi

The Sixth Amendment guarantees that “[ijn all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right., .to have assistance of counsel for hjs defense.” LI.S. Const amend. VI. This guarantee “safeguards...fundamental human rights of life and liberty.” Johnson v. Zerbest, 304 U.S. 458, 462 (1938). It is tire very reason why "appointment of counsel for an indigent is required at every stage of ⅝ criminal proceeding where substantial rights of accused may be affected." Mempa v. Rhay, 389 U.S. 128, 134, (1967).

Ineffective assistance claims are determined under Strickland’s two-prong test. Strickland v. Washington, U.S. 668, 685 (1985). Court defines “the benchmark for judging any claim of ineffectiveness must be whether counsel’s conduct so undermined foe proper Motioning of the adversarial process that foe trial cannot be relied on as having produced a just result.” Id. 686-[141]*141627 (1984). ⅛ summary, Me Petitioner musí meet te Mgh burden establishing “Mat counsel’s performance was deficient” and Aat “Ais deficient performance prejudiced Ms defense,” State v. Pratt, 26,862 (La. App. 2 Cir. 1995).

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Under Strickland's first prong, deficiency turns on whether counsel was reasonably Competent, “not perfect” Yarborough v. Gentry, 540 U.S. 3, 8 (2003). The reasonableness of an attorney is determined by "professional norms?’ which fells within a "wide range of professional assistance.” Strickland, U.S. 668, 688 (1984); Kimmelman v. Morrison, 477 U.S. 365 (1986). When evaluating fee reasonableness-standard as applied to Ineffeotive assistance of counsel; tho Court will undertake “a detailed, examination of the specific feots and circumstances of the case. This is necessary,,.because effectiveness of counsel cannot be defined in a vacuum, but rather requires an individual, fact-specific inquiry.” State v. Pearl, 621 So. 2d 780, 788 (La.1993).

Strickland's second prong requires the Petitioner to establish that counsel’s objectively unreasonable performance prejudiced fee petitioner a fait trial. Prejudice is present when “reasonable probability existed that, absent errors, the fectSnder would have had a reasonable doubt respecting guilt.” Kimmelman, 477 U.S. 365, 380 (1986); see also Strickland, U.S. 668. 695 (1984). The Court in Strickland defines reasonable as “probability sufficient to undermine confidence in tho outcome.” Id. At 694. This standard requires more than a mere probability that the defendant would more likely than, not the have received a different verdict Id. at 694; Jones v. Cain, 151 So.3d 781,793 (2014). It demands a showmg that the prejudice "undermines Ae confidence of tho outcome,” Id.

Claim One; Counsel Ineffectively OidNot Object to Trial Court's Failure to Advise

Petitioner alleges feat Counael did not object to trial court's lack of advisement as to his Boykin rights 'at ⅛8 time of Ms guilty plea. In felony oases, trial court has a general duty not to accept guilty pleas without (1) first addressing Ae defendant personally in open court, (2) informing Mm of Ms rights and (3) determining he understands Ms rights. La. C.Cr.P. Art. 556.1.

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Related

Johnson v. Zerbst
304 U.S. 458 (Supreme Court, 1938)
Mempa v. Rhay
389 U.S. 128 (Supreme Court, 1967)
Strickland v. Washington
466 U.S. 668 (Supreme Court, 1984)
Kimmelman v. Morrison
477 U.S. 365 (Supreme Court, 1986)
Yarborough v. Gentry
540 U.S. 1 (Supreme Court, 2003)
State v. Farinas
28 So. 3d 1132 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2009)
State v. Peart
621 So. 2d 780 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1993)
State v. Russell
73 So. 3d 991 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2011)
Jones v. Cain
151 So. 3d 781 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2014)

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Bluebook (online)
193 So. 3d 138, 2016 La. LEXIS 1286, 2016 WL 3129262, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-marcell-v-state-la-2016.