Nadir v. State, 1184S456

• Decision Date: 25 March 1987
• Docket Number: No. 1184S456,1184S456
• Citation: 505 N.E.2d 440
• Parties: Shukree Abdulla NADIR (Willie Love), Appellant (Defendant Below), v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Plaintiff Below).
• Court: Indiana Supreme Court

Page 440

505 N.E.2d 440

Shukree Abdulla NADIR (Willie Love), Appellant (Defendant Below), v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Plaintiff Below).

No. 1184S456.

Supreme Court of Indiana.

March 25, 1987.

Susan K. Carpenter, Public Defender, Vickie Yaser, Deputy Public Defender, Indianapolis, for appellant.

Linley E. Pearson, Atty. Gen., Michael Gene Worden, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for appellee.

DICKSON, Justice.

Following a jury trial in 1975, petitioner-appellant Shukree Abdulla Nadir ¹ was convicted of first degree murder ² and sentenced to life imprisonment. This Court affirmed his conviction on direct appeal in Love v. State (1977), 267 Ind. 302, 369 N.E.2d 1073. In November, 1978, Nadir, by counsel, filed a petition for post-conviction relief alleging ineffective assistance of trial counsel. Following numerous delays, a hearing was held in June, 1981, after which the post-conviction court denied the petition. In this belated appeal, we review the sole issue of whether Nadir received effective assistance of counsel at trial.

As petitioner, Nadir had the burden of proving the allegations in his petition by a preponderance of the evidence. We review his case as an appeal from a negative judgment, and will reverse the judgment of the post-conviction court as being contrary to law only if, considering only the probative evidence and reasonable inferences supporting the judgment, without weighing evidence or assessing witness credibility, the evidence is without conflict and leads to a conclusion opposite the judgment reached by the post-conviction court. Young v. State (1984), Ind., 470 N.E.2d 70.

In affirming Nadir's conviction on direct appeal, this Court stated the facts as follows:

The decedent's father went to the Marshall Tavern on the evening of January 18, 1975. As he was leaving, Carolyn Johnson approached him and requested a ride, which he gave her. Miss Johnson had been dating the defendant about five months and was at the tavern with the defendant and some of his friends. At the corner of Seventeenth and McClure in Marion, Indiana, the defendant rammed his car into the rear of the senior Walker's auto. The accident occurred almost directly in front of the decedent's home. The defendant and the decedent's father began arguing and were joined by the decedent. The defendant then got into his black and white Toronado and drove away. The other three, the decedent, his father and Miss Johnson, went into the decedent's home to call the police. This took approximately three to five minutes; whereupon, the three went outside to determine the extent of the damage to the elder Walker's car. Approximately the same time, the defendant returned, driving the same car, and opened fire with a rifle, killing the younger Walker.

267 Ind. at 303-304, 369 N.E.2d at 1074.

Nadir concedes that the State presented adequate evidence of his guilt at trial. His principal complaint with regard to his trial attorney's representation rests on his claim that an intoxication defense should have been presented. Defendant contends that his trial attorney failed to interview key witnesses and elicit sufficient facts to make an informed decision regarding the efficacy of an intoxication defense. Defendant further argues that his trial attorney failed to discover and present evidence of the extent of Nadir's alleged injuries received in the altercation with decedent and decedent's father shortly before the shooting.

Reversal for ineffective assistance of counsel is appropriate in cases where a defendant shows both (a) deficient performance by counsel, and (b) resulting prejudice from errors of counsel so serious as to deprive the defendant of a trial whose result is reliable. Strickland v. Washington (1984), 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674. The proper measure of attorney performance is reasonableness under prevailing...