Woodson v. State

778 N.E.2d 475, 2002 Ind. App. LEXIS 1898, 2002 WL 31521729
Indiana Court of Appeals·Decided November 14, 2002·No. 49A04-0109-PC-396·Published·Cited by 11 cases

Opinions

OPINION ON REHEARING

KIRSCH, Judge.

In Woodson v. State, 767 N.E.2d 1022 (Ind.Ct.App.2002), this court granted Keith Woodson’s petition for post-convic[477] tion relief on his two convictions for attempted murder as an accomplice,1 a Class A felony, on the basis that the jury instructions constituted fundamental error. We remanded the case for a new trial.

The State has petitioned this court for rehearing. Citing Sanders v. State, 765 N.E.2d 591, 592 (Ind.2002), the State argues that our supreme court recently clarified that claims of fundamental error apply only to direct appeals and “are not available on post-conviction [relief].” Petition for Rehearing at 3. As such, the State urges us to reconsider our decision on the grounds that we improperly reviewed Woodson’s petition for post-conviction relief under a fundamental error analysis. We grant the State’s petition for rehearing for the limited purpose of addressing why our analysis remains the same after Sanders, and affirm our opinion in all respects.

In Sanders, our supreme court concluded that, “It was wrong to review the fundamental error claim in a post-conviction proceeding.” Sanders, 765 N.E.2d at 592. The State focuses on this language to support its position that our court erred in discussing fundamental error. The State’s argument ignores the Sanders court’s additional comments, which read as follows:

As we explained in Canaan v. State, 683 N.E.2d 227, 235 n. 6 (Ind.1997), the fundamental error exception to the contemporaneous objection rule applies to direct appeals. In post-conviction proceedings, complaints that something went awry at trial are generally cognizable only when they show deprivation of the right to effective counsel or issues demonstrably unavailable at the time of trial or direct appeal.

Id. (emphasis added).

The Canaan language on which the Sanders court relied originated in Bailey v. State, 472 N.E.2d 1260, 1263 (Ind. 1985). Bailey remains good law, and our supreme court’s thorough analysis of fundamental error in that opinion is helpful for determining when, in the absence of a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, a claim of fundamental error may be raised during a petition for post-conviction relief. The following Bailey language bears repeating:

[W]e wish to clarify the question of the propriety of raising an issue singularly characterized as fundamental error in a post-conviction petition.
The remedy of post-conviction relief is not a substitute for a direct appeal. [Ind. Post-Conviction Rule l(l)(b) ]. Pursuant to [P-C.R. l(l)(a) ], such remedy is available to:
(a) Any person who has been convicted of, or sentenced for, a crime by a court of this state, and who claims:
(1) that the conviction or the sen- ' tence was in violation of the Constitution of the United States or the constitution or laws of this state;
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may institute at any time a proceeding under this Rule to secure relief.
The post-conviction relief process is also open to the “raising [of] issues not known at the time of the original trial and appeal or for some reason not available to the defendant at that time.” Kimble v. State, [451 N.E.2d 302, 303-304 (Ind.1983) ]. It is not, however, open to the raising of issues available to a petitioner upon his original appeal. Brown v. State, [261 Ind. 619, 308 N.E.2d 699 (1974) ]. Errors not assigned at the trial level nor argued on direct appeal are deemed waived in the context of post-conviction relief. Frith [478] v. State, [452 N.E.2d 930 (Ind.1983)]; Howland v. State, [442 N.E.2d 1081 (Ind.1982) ]. “To unreservedly hold the door open for appellate review under the post conviction remedy rules, regardless of the circumstances which preceded, would perforce characterize post conviction relief as some sort of ‘super-appeal’ contrary to its intended function.” Langley v. State, [256 Ind. 199, 210, 267 N.E.2d 538, 544 (1971) ].
We recently stated, by way of dicta, that a claim of fundamental error can be raised in a post-conviction petition regardless of whether such issue was waived in the direct appeal process. This Court asserted, “it is through a showing of fundamental error that the post conviction court can bypass an obstacle to reaching the merits of a free standing claim erected by a prior procedural default.” Snider v. State, [468 N.E.2d 1037, 1039 (Ind.1984) ].
An error characterized as fundamental is one which is “blatant” and which if not rectified would deny the petitioner “fundamental due process.” Terry v. State, [465 N.E.2d 1085 (Ind.1984)]; Johnson v. State, [271 Ind. 145, 390 N.E.2d 1005 (1979) ]. A claim characterized solely as fundamental error is available only on appeal and is raised when there has been a failure to assign an error which is so egregious that it must be decided by the appellate court because of its fundamental nature.
In clarification of the dicta in Snider, supra, any issue set forth in a post-conviction petition must be raised within the purview of the post-conviction rules, e.g., deprivation of the Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel, or be an issue demonstrably unavailable to the petitioner at the time of his trial and direct appeal. Therefore, in a post-conviction petition an allegation of the denial of the petitioner’s due process rights may not be raised in the “free standing” form of an allegation of fundamental error.
As a court of review, we cannot ignore a fundamental error apparent on the face of the record. Griffin v. State, [439 N.E.2d 160 (Ind.1982) ]; Young v. State, [249 Ind. 286, 231 N.E.2d 797 (1967) ]. We do require, however, that such error be raised within the provisions of [PC.R. 1(1)(a) ].

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Woodson v. State, 778 N.E.2d 475, 2002 Ind. App. LEXIS 1898, 2002 WL 31521729 (Ind. Ct. App. 2002).

778 N.E.2d 475 (Woodson v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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Woodson v. State
778 N.E.2d 475 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2002)