Deegan v. State, No. A05-24.

• Decision Date: 23 March 2006
• Docket Number: No. A05-24.
• Citation: 711 N.W.2d 89
• Parties: Daniel DEEGAN, Appellant, v. STATE of Minnesota, Respondent.
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

Page 89

711 N.W.2d 89

Daniel DEEGAN, Appellant, v. STATE of Minnesota, Respondent.

No. A05-24.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

March 23, 2006.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Mark D. Nyvold, St. Paul, MN, for appellant.

Mike Hatch, Attorney General, John S. Garry, Assistant Attorney General, St. Paul, MN, Alan L. Mitchell, St. Louis County Attorney, Duluth, MN, for respondent.

Heard, considered, and decided by the court en banc.

OPINION

HANSON, Justice.

We review the question of whether Minn.Stat. § 590.05 (2004) violates the United States or Minnesota Constitutions because it provides that a petitioner who pleaded guilty, received no greater than the presumptive sentence, and did not pursue a direct appeal is not entitled to representation by the state public defender in a postconviction petition if the state public defender reviews the case and determines that there is no basis to appeal the conviction or sentence. Specifically, our review focuses on the 2003 amendment to section 590.05, which added the following:

If, however, the person pled guilty and received a presumptive sentence or a downward departure in sentence, and the state public defender reviewed the person's case and determined that there was no basis for an appeal of the conviction or of the sentence, then the state public defender may decline to represent the person in a postconviction remedy case.

Act of May 28, 2003, ch. 2, art. 3, § 2, 2003 Minn. Laws 1st Spec. Sess. 1400, 1401.

Appellant Daniel Deegan argues that the Minnesota Constitution ensures the right to one appellate review of a criminal conviction—through either a direct appeal or postconviction petition—and that the right to counsel is also constitutionally required because counsel is necessary for the review to be meaningful. In the alternative, Deegan argues that section 590.05 as amended violates the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution because there is no rational basis to provide counsel to indigent postconviction petitioners who either went to trial, or pleaded guilty and received upward departures, but deny counsel to indigent postconviction petitioners who pleaded guilty and received the presumptive sentence or less. The district court and court of appeals held, on the basis of Pennsylvania v. Finley, 481 U.S. 551, 107 S.Ct. 1990, 95 L.Ed.2d 539 (1987), that there is no constitutional right to counsel for a postconviction proceeding. We reverse.

On March 13, 1999, Daniel Deegan, K.B. and S.M. were drinking together at the Red Lion Bar. F.A.W. was also at the Red Lion Bar that night. F.A.W. left the bar with S.M., Deegan and K.B. "to go get high." F.A.W.'s body was discovered the following day at a construction site. Deegan, K.B. and S.M. were each indicted for first-degree premeditated murder and first-degree murder while committing kidnapping. K.B. went to trial and was convicted on both counts.¹ Deegan entered guilty pleas to second-degree murder and kidnapping just before jury selection was to begin in his own trial.²

In exchange for his guilty pleas to second-degree murder and kidnapping, Deegan received a 360-month sentence for second-degree murder—a downward durational departure from the presumptive sentence of 386 months. The court did not impose a sentence for kidnapping because the offense was part of the same behavioral incident. Deegan was represented by two public defenders through his guilty pleas on November 28, 2000, and at sentencing.

Deegan did not pursue a direct appeal. In October 2003, Deegan requested the assistance of the state public defender in filing a petition for postconviction relief. The state public defender informed Deegan that counsel would not be appointed. Acting pro se, Deegan filed a petition for postconviction relief along with a motion for appointment of counsel.

After receiving a letter from the state public defender, explaining that the state public defender was declining to represent Deegan because Deegan pleaded guilty and received less than the presumptive sentence, the district court denied Deegan's motion for appointment of counsel on the basis of Finley, 481 U.S. at 557, 107 S.Ct. 1990 (holding that there is no Fourteenth Amendment right to counsel for a state postconviction action) and section 590.05. The court also denied Deegan's petition for postconviction relief.

Deegan appealed the denial of his petition to the court of appeals. Deegan filed a motion for the court of appeals to accept his papers "as is," which the court denied. The order denying Deegan's motion to accept nonconforming papers noted that because Deegan had not pursued a direct appeal or previous postconviction petition, "[Deegan's] eligibility for representation by the State Public Defender's Office is unclear." A copy of this order was sent to the state public defender. The state public defender wrote to the court of appeals, providing the same explanation given to the district court: under section 590.05, as amended, Deegan was not entitled to representation by the state public defender. Deegan then filed with the court of appeals a motion for appointment of counsel, a second motion to accept nonconforming appeal papers, and a memorandum explaining his inability to submit papers conforming to the rules of criminal and appellate procedure.³ The court of appeals granted Deegan's second motion for acceptance of nonconforming appeal papers, but denied his motion for appointed counsel on the same basis as the district court.

Deegan filed a petition for review of the court of appeals' denial of his motion for appointment of counsel. We granted Deegan's petition to review the constitutionality of the 2003 amendment to section 590.05. We review the constitutionality of a statute de novo. State v. Benniefield, 678 N.W.2d 42, 45 (Minn.2004). A person claiming a statute is unconstitutional bears the burden of showing that the statute is unconstitutional beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. Unless a fundamental right or suspect class is involved, statutes are presumed to be constitutional. Id.

I.

A. Minnesota's Postconviction Remedy

We begin our analysis with an overview of the postconviction remedy. The substance of Minnesota's postconviction remedy has been fashioned over the last four decades by judicial decisions that express our understanding of the United States Supreme Court's decision in Case v. Nebraska, 381 U.S. 336, 85 S.Ct. 1486, 14 L.Ed.2d 422 (1965), and interpret the Minnesota Postconviction Remedy Act.

In the 1960's, when federal courts were experiencing dramatic increases in habeas filings, the Supreme Court granted certiorari to decide whether the Fourteenth Amendment requires states to provide state prisoners with "some adequate corrective process for the hearing and determination of claims of violation of federal constitutional guarantees." Case v. Nebraska, 381 U.S. at 337, 85 S.Ct. 1486; Christopher Flood, Closing the Circle: Case v. Nebraska and the Future of Habeas Reform, 27 N.Y.U. Rev. L. & Soc. Change 633, 634 (2001-02). But the Court never issued a decision on the issue for which it granted certiorari because, in the intervening months, the Nebraska legislature enacted a statute providing a state postconviction remedy. Case, 381 U.S. at 337, 85 S.Ct. 1486. The Court remanded the matter to the Nebraska Supreme Court for reconsideration in light of the newly enacted statute. Id. Because of the procedural posture of that decision, and because subsequent Supreme Court decisions have not revisited the issue directly, it is not clear whether the federal constitution requires states to provide state prisoners with some judicial review processes for claimed violations of the federal constitution.

Lacking clear direction from the Supreme Court, the Minnesota legislature nevertheless enacted the Postconviction Remedy Act in 1967. As originally enacted, this statute provided:

Except at a time when direct appellate relief is available, a person convicted of a crime, who claims that the conviction was obtained, or that the sentence or other disposition made violated his rights under the constitution or laws of the United States or of the state, may commence a proceeding to secure relief therefrom * * *.

Minn.Stat. § 590.01, subd. 1 (1967). Nine years later, we noted that the Postconviction Remedy Act was enacted "as a legislative response to the United States Supreme Court's pronouncement in Case v. Nebraska." State v. Knaffla, 309 Minn. 246, 251, 243 N.W.2d 737, 740 (1976). We said that the "implication" of Case v. Nebraska was that "a convicted defendant is entitled to at least one state corrective process to determine a claim of violation of Federal constitutional rights." Id. We also observed that the Postconviction Remedy Act provides broader grounds for relief than is required by Case v. Nebraska because the Postconviction Remedy Act provides relief from state law violations in addition to federal and state constitutional violations. Id. We concluded that "[t]he salient feature of Minn. St. c. 590 in coordination with Case v. Nebraska, supra, is that a convicted defendant is entitled to at least one right of review by an appellate or postconviction court." Id. at 251, 243 N.W.2d 737, 243 N.W.2d at 740-41.

In Knaffla, we considered the scope of postconviction relief available in Minnesota in two circumstances: where the petitioner did pursue a direct appeal and where the petitioner did not pursue a direct appeal. Where a postconviction petitioner has first taken a direct appeal, we held that all claims raised—or known but not raised—are barred from further consideration in a postconviction action. Id. at 252, 243 N.W.2d at 741.

Two exceptions to the Knaffla rule allow for postconviction relief despite the fact that the claims could have been raised on direct appeal: (1) where a novel legal issue is presented; or (2) where the interests of fairness and justice require relief. To justify a hearing on a novel...