Kruckeberg v. State

• Decision Date: 25 July 1984
• Docket Number: No. 482S152,482S152
• Citation: 465 N.E.2d 1126
• Parties: Lee A. KRUCKEBERG, Appellant (Petitioner Below), v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Respondent Below).
• Court: Indiana Supreme Court

Page 1126

465 N.E.2d 1126

Lee A. KRUCKEBERG, Appellant (Petitioner Below), v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Respondent Below).

No. 482S152.

Supreme Court of Indiana.

July 25, 1984.

Nile Stanton, Indianapolis, for appellant.

Linley E. Pearson, Atty. Gen., Carmen L. Quintana, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for appellee.

PRENTICE, Justice.

Petitioner (Appellant) was convicted, following a trial by jury, of multiple offenses and sentenced, and the judgment was affirmed by this Court. Kruckeberg v. State, (1978) 268 Ind. 643, 377 N.E.2d 1351. A petition for post-conviction relief, filed under P.C. Rule No. 1, was heard and denied. This appeal is from that denial and assigns two issues which are framed by Petitioner's brief as follows:

1. "The post-conviction court did not make specific findings of fact and conclusions of law."

2. "The post-conviction court erred in ruling that certain properly preserved issues were without merit and, therefore, no basis for an inadequacy of appellate counsel claim."

ISSUE I

Issue I relates to a claim of fundamental error in allowing the State to amend the charging information, on the day before the trial, to correct the citation to the statute which he was charged with having violated. The Post Conviction Court filed findings of fact and conclusions of law which included conclusions miscast among the findings, as follows:

"10. The trial court properly allowed amendment of the charging informations.

"11. The charging informations upon which petitioner was tried stated the charged offenses with sufficient certainty and particularity as to inform the petitioner of the exact nature of the charges that he was required to meet and defend against.

"12. The amendments to the charges did not change the material allegations of the charges."

Petitioner, relying upon Love v. State, (1971) 257 Ind. 57, 272 N.E.2d 456, now contends that the cause should be remanded for additional findings, as was done in Love.

As in the case before us, Love was an appeal from the denial of post conviction relief. However, the issue there was whether the appellant had been denied certain constitutional rights during the initial twenty-four hours of his incarceration. The determination of that question hinged upon the testimonial evidence adduced at the hearing, and we remanded because the court's only finding was that there had been no illegality in the guilty plea proceedings or in the evidence adduced at said proceeding. Without being apprised of the circumstances of Love's incarceration, specifically whether or not he had received proper advisements, we had no basis for determining the correctness of that court's conclusion but would have been compelled to make factual determinations from the transcript--a function for which we are ill equipped.

In the case before us, the determination is one of law, upon which we have the final word, and was in no way dependent upon disputed or disputable facts. Jethroe v. State (1980) 272 Ind. 681, 400 N.E.2d 1376. The main purpose of the requirement for special findings and conclusions is to aid the reviewing court to understand the lower court's view of the case. Love v. State, 257 Ind. at 59, 272 N.E.2d at 458. In this case, the findings were adequate for that purpose, and we find no error in the court's conclusion that no error had been committed in permitting the amendment complained of. It corrected only the statutory citation and could not have misled Petitioner or affected his substantial rights.

ISSUE II

Petitioner cites three instances where evidence offered by the State, at his trial, was admitted over objections, but error was not assigned to any of such rulings by the motion to correct errors; hence they were not presented for appellate review. Petitioner contends that there was substantial legal merit to the issues and that if their omission was not a matter of appellate strategy, then it revealed counsel incompetence entitling him to file a belated motion to correct errors. We do not agree that new appeals may be so easily initiated, but it is unnecessary for us to elaborate upon the subject.

The Supreme Court of the United States has recently spoken in detail upon the entitlements of persons convicted of crimes to have their convictions set aside by reason of their having been denied their Sixth Amendment right to the effective assistance of counsel. Strickland, Supt., Florida State Prison, et al. v. Washington, (1984) --- U.S. ----, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674. Although that opinion concerns claims of ineffective counsel at the trial level, much of it is equally applicable to such claims aimed at the appeal.

Justice O'Connor recognized, in Strickland, the propriety of a two-step analysis: (1) "A convicted defendant making a claim of ineffective assistance [of counsel] must identify the acts or omissions of counsel that are alleged not to have been the result of reasonable professional judgment. The Court must then determine whether, in light of all the circumstances, the identified acts or omissions were outside the wide range of professionally competent assistance." --- U.S. at ----, 104 S.Ct. at 2066, 80 L.Ed.2d at 695 (emphasis added). (2) Prejudice. "An error by counsel, even if professionally unreasonable, does not warrant setting aside the judgment of a criminal proceeding if the error had no effect on the judgment." --- U.S. at ----, 104 S.Ct. at 2067, 80 L.Ed.2d at 696.

"Although we have discussed the performance component of an ineffectiveness claim prior to the prejudice component, there is no reason for a court deciding an ineffective assistance claim to approach the inquiry in the same order or even to address both components of the inquiry if the defendant makes an insufficient showing on one. In particular, a court need not determine whether counsel's performance was deficient before examining the prejudice suffered by the defendant as a result of the alleged deficiencies. The object of an ineffectiveness claim is not to grade counsel's performance. If it is easier to dispose of an ineffectiveness claim on the ground of lack of sufficient prejudice, which we expect will often be so, that course should be followed. Courts should strive to ensure that ineffectiveness claims not become so burdensome to defense counsel that the entire criminal justice system suffers as a result." Strickland v. Washington, --- U.S. at ---- - ---- 104 S.Ct. at 2069-70, 80 L.Ed.2d at 699-700.

In most instances where counsel incompetence is claimed with respect to the appeal, it will probably effect judicial economy to look first to the act or omission complained of and determine whether or not prejudice to the petitioner resulted, notwithstanding that, by so doing, we may be reviewing error not preserved. Only upon a determination that the...