Edgar v. State

• Decision Date: 27 July 2012
• Docket Number: No. 100,477.,100,477.
• Parties: Neil EDGAR, Sr., Appellant, v. STATE of Kansas, Appellee.
• Court: Kansas Supreme Court

294 Kan. 828

283 P.3d 152

Neil EDGAR, Sr., Appellant,

v.STATE of Kansas, Appellee.

No. 100,477.

Supreme Court of Kansas.

July 27, 2012.

Syllabus by the Court

1. To support a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel based on counsel's performance, a defendant must demonstrate that (1) counsel's performance was deficient and (2) counsel's deficient performance was sufficiently serious to prejudice the defense and deprive the defendant of a fair trial. The benchmark for judging any claim of ineffectiveness must be whether counsel's conduct so undermined the proper functioning of the adversarial process that the trial cannot be relied on as having produced a just result.

2. The first prong of the test for ineffective assistance of counsel requires a defendant to show that counsel's representation fell below an objective standard of reasonableness, considering all the circumstances. Judicial scrutiny of counsel's performance must be highly deferential, and a fair assessment of performance requires that every effort be made to eliminate the distorting effects of hindsight, to reconstruct the circumstances of counsel's challenged conduct, and to evaluate the conduct from counsel's perspective at the time. A court must indulge a strong presumption that counsel's conduct falls within the wide range of reasonable professional assistance.

3. Under the second prong of the test for ineffective assistance of counsel, the defendant also must establish prejudice by showing that there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's deficient performance, the result of the proceeding would have been different. A reasonable probability is a probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome. A court that hears an ineffective assistance of counsel claim must consider the totality of the evidence before the judge or jury.

4. A court need not determine whether counsel's performance was deficient before examining the prejudice suffered by the defendant as a result of alleged deficiencies.

5. Where a movant makes only conclusory allegations and fails to establish a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's errors, a different result would have been achieved, a district court does not err in denying a K.S.A. 60–1507 motion for ineffective assistance of counsel.

Michael J. Bartee, of Michael J. Bartee, P.A., of Olathe, argued the cause and was on the brief for appellant.

Steven J. Obermeier, assistant district attorney, argued the cause, and Stephen M. Howe, district attorney, and Steve Six, attorney general, were with him on the brief for appellee.

The opinion of the court was delivered by LUCKERT, J.:

In Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984), the United States Supreme Court established a two-prong test for determining if a criminal defendant's right to effective assistance of counsel under the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution has been violated by the deficient performance of counsel. Under this test, a defendant must demonstrate that (1) counsel's performance was deficient and (2) counsel's deficient performance was sufficiently serious to prejudice the defense and deprive the defendant of a fair trial. To establish the second prong, the defendant must establish a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's errors, the outcome of the proceeding would have been different. This court recognized this standard in Chamberlain v. State, 236 Kan. 650, 657–58, 694 P.2d 468 (1985). Applying this Strickland/Chamberlain test in the present case, the district judge concluded Neil Edgar, Sr., failed to satisfy either prong of the test. On appeal from that ruling, the Court of Appeals reversed the district court's summary denial of Edgar's K.S.A. 60–1507 motion and remanded for a hearing on the first prong, but it failed to address the second prong. Edgar v. State, No. 100,477, ––– Kan.App.2d ––––, 2009 WL 5206231 (Kan.App.2009) (unpublished opinion) ( Edgar II ). Subsequently, the State sought this court's review of that decision, arguing the Court of Appeals erred in remanding the case for a hearing rather than holding that Edgar failed to satisfy the second prong of the Strickland/Chamberlain test.

We accepted the State's cross-petition for review and now reverse the Court of Appeals' decision on this issue. In Strickland, the United States Supreme Court held that a court does not have to determine whether counsel's performance was deficient before examining the prejudice that resulted from the alleged deficiencies and, in fact, should resolve the issue on the second prong, if possible, rather than insist on a first-prong determination. Consequently, the Court of Appeals could and should have reviewed the district judge's ruling on the second prong of the Strickland/Chamberlain test. Conducting our own review, we conclude the district judge correctly concluded that Edgar had failed to establish prejudice.

Facts and Procedural Background

Edgar's claims of ineffective assistance of counsel relate to a criminal case that was filed following the death of Edgar's 9–year–old son Brian. In that criminal case, Edgar was charged in count I with felony murder, in violation of K.S.A. 21–3401(b), occurring during the commission of abuse of a child by inflicting cruel and inhuman corporal punishment upon Brian on December 30, 2002. Edgar was also charged in counts II and III with child abuse, in violation of K.S.A. 21–3609, involving two of Edgar's other children: 12–year–old Martez and 9–year–old Christina. The allegations were that the abuse of Martez and Christina occurred during the time period from May 9, 2002, to December 30, 2002.

Edgar's wife, Christy Edgar (Christy), and Chasity Boyd (Boyd), described by the Edgars as their “granddaughter” and by the Edgar children as their “babysitter,” were also charged with the same crimes. Edgar, Christy, and Boyd were tried jointly. After opening statements in the trial, Christy pleaded guilty to all of the charges. Edgar and Boyd agreed the jury could be told of her plea, and Edgar defended against his charges by arguing Christy was the one who committed the abuse, he did not aid and abet in any of her acts of abuse, and he had no knowledge of the incident that led to Brian's death.

Rejecting this defense, a jury convicted Edgar of the felony murder of Brian and of the child abuse of Martez and Christina. The district judge then sentenced Edgar to a term of life imprisonment for the felony-murder conviction and to 32 months' imprisonment on each of the child abuse convictions, with the sentences for the child abuse convictions to run concurrent with each other and consecutive to the sentence for felony murder.

On direct appeal, this court affirmed Edgar's convictions and sentences in State v. Edgar, 281 Kan. 47, 127 P.3d 1016 (2006)( Edgar I ). An extensive discussion of the facts can be found in that decision, but a summary is necessary because our review requires a discussion of the prejudice prong of the Strickland/Chamberlain test, a discussion that is necessarily factual.

As to the evidence regarding the felony-murder offense charged in count I, an autopsy revealed Brian died of asphyxiation when he aspirated his own vomit. At the time of his death, Brian was wrapped “like a mummy” in duct tape with only his nose left open for breathing. A sock had been stuffed in Brian's mouth and taped down to keep him from “hollering” and gnawing on the tape.

There was evidence that Edgar was the one who restrained Brian on the night of his death. In fact, Edgar initially confessed to police that he “did it.” He told the police he had restrained Brian by wrapping his arms, torso, and ankles with belts and that he had used duct tape to cover a sock he stuffed in Brian's mouth so that Brian could not “holler.” In addition, Martez told detectives Edgar tied up Brian on the night of Brian's death. Martez also stated that Edgar was the one who usually punished the boys.

Most of the evidence at trial, however, indicated Christy and Boyd had taped Brian on the night of his death and were the ones who most often punished the children. Some evidence suggested that Christy would tell Boyd to punish the children and that Boyd would be the one who physically restrained the children. Consistent with this evidence, the State argued to the jury that Edgar aided and abetted Christy and Boyd in the acts of child abuse. In fact, during closing argument, the prosecutor said, “Sure, Chasity Boyd does most of the tying but this guy is up to his ears in this.” Later, the prosecutor said, “Did he aid and abet? Yes. We know that in a thousand different ways.”

The evidence of aiding and abetting came from the testimony of Brian's siblings—Martez, Christina, and 16–year–old Christon. For example, Martez specifically told detectives that Martez and Brian were punished on the night of Brian's death because they had angered Edgar. Martez also told the detectives he was thankful he had good parents who simply bound him up instead of cutting off his hands, as in biblical times, when he stole something. He told detectives that his father told them, “What happens in this house stays in this house.” Similarly, Christina testified that she and the boys were in trouble on the night of Brian's death. More generally, during a taped interview that was shown to the jury, Christina stated, “My dad, he tied me up. My mommy did, Chasity tied me.”

Christon provided direct evidence of Edgar's aiding and abetting. In Christon's testimony, he explained that Brian had been taped 2 nights in a row because he had “stolen” food by eating without permission or, on the day of his death, by taking cookies while the family was at the church where Edgar was the pastor and Christy was the prophet. On the first night, Brian was wrapped in duct tape from his ankles to his shoulders. The next night, Christy and Boyd began taping Brian in a similar manner but ran out of duct...