Raudebaugh v. State, No. 26946.

• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Idaho
• Writing for the Court: SCHROEDER, Justice.
• Citation: 21 P.3d 924,135 Idaho 602
• Parties: Thomas Dale RAUDEBAUGH, Petitioner-Appellant, v. STATE of Idaho, Respondent.
• Decision Date: 02 April 2001
• Docket Number: No. 26946.

21 P.3d 924
135 Idaho 602

Thomas Dale RAUDEBAUGH, Petitioner-Appellant,
v.
STATE of Idaho, Respondent

No. 26946.

Supreme Court of Idaho, Boise, January 2001 Term.

April 2, 2001.

21 P.3d 925

Ronaldo A. Coulter, State Appellate Public Defender, Boise, for appellant. Molly J. Huskey argued

Alan G. Lance, Attorney General, Boise, for respondent. T. Paul Krueger, II, argued.

SCHROEDER, Justice.

Thomas Raudebaugh (Raudebaugh) appeals the district court's order dismissing his second amended petition for post-conviction relief. The Court of Appeals affirmed in part, vacated in part, and remanded the case for further proceedings. This matter is before this Court upon the state's petition for review of the Court of Appeals decision.

I.

BACKGROUND AND PRIOR PROCEEDINGS

Raudebaugh was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to a unified life sentence with ten years fixed, followed by a weapons enhancement of five years, to run consecutively. He appealed the conviction, alleging several errors by the trial court including: erroneous jury instructions, the erroneous admission of both expert and lay testimony, and prosecutorial misconduct in closing argument. This Court affirmed the district court. See State v. Raudebaugh, 124 Idaho 758, 864 P.2d 596 (1993).

Raudebaugh filed a petition for post-conviction relief and a first amended petition for post-conviction relief. He then filed a motion for production of evidence, including a knife, which was the murder weapon, a pipe, and his fingerprint exemplar. Raudebaugh sought to have the evidence released and examined by an independent expert to determine whether additional fingerprints could be identified on the knife after the state's expert found none. The district court denied the discovery request "without prejudice subject to review at a future time." Raudebaugh then filed a second amended petition. The state moved to dismiss the petition pursuant to I.C. § 19-4906(b) and (c). The district court granted the state's motion. Raudebaugh appealed the district court's order.

The Court of Appeals affirmed in part, vacated in part, and remanded the case for further proceedings. The Court of Appeals determined that the district court erred in denying the discovery request and remanded the case to the district court to render a decision applying what the Court of Appeals stated was a new standard for discovery requests in post-conviction relief proceedings. Although the Court of Appeals found error in the district court's order regarding Raudebaugh's prosecutorial misconduct allegations, the court affirmed that portion of the decision on different grounds. The state filed a timely petition for review which this Court granted.

II.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

When considering a case on review from the Court of Appeals, this Court gives serious consideration to the Court of Appeals; however, this Court reviews the decision of the trial court directly. State v. Avelar, 129 Idaho 700, 702, 931 P.2d 1218, 1220 (1997). This Court is not merely reviewing the correctness of the Court of Appeals' decision; rather, this Court is hearing the matter as if the case were on direct appeal from the trial judge's decision. See Stanley v. McDaniel, 134 Idaho 630, 7 P.3d 1107 (2000); State v. Weaver, 127 Idaho 288, 290, 900 P.2d 196, 198 (1995). In Sato v. Schossberger 117 Idaho 771, 775, 792 P.2d 336, 340

21 P.3d 926

(1990), this Court set forth the standard of review

If we decide to review a decision of the Court of Appeals, we ordinarily consider all the issues presented to the Court of Appeals. Occasionally, we may decide to address less than all of the issues presented to the Court of Appeals. In that case, we advise the parties of the issues we will address. As to the issues we decide to address, we consider that we are hearing the matter in the first instance, not merely considering the correctness of the decision of the Court of Appeals. If the issues presented to the Court of Appeals concerned a decision of a district court, we consider the correctness of the district court's decision. While we value the opinion of the Court of Appeals for the insight it gives us in addressing the issues presented on appeal, we do not focus on the opinion of the Court of Appeals, but rather on the decision of the district court.

Id., see also McDaniel, 134 Idaho at 632, 7 P.3d at 1109 (2000); and Eagle Water Company, Inc., v. Roundy Pole Fence Company, Inc, 134 Idaho 626, 7 P.3d 1103 (2000).

In determining whether a motion for summary disposition is properly granted under I.C. 19-4906, the Court reviews the facts in a light most favorable to the petitioner and determines whether the facts would entitle petitioner to relief if accepted as true. Saykhamchone v. State, 127 Idaho 319, 321, 900 P.2d 795, 797 (1995). A petition for post-conviction relief is subject to summary dismissal if the petitioner has not presented evidence establishing a prima facie case as to each element of the claims upon which the applicant bears the burden of proof. See Pratt v. State, 134 Idaho 581, 583, 6 P.3d 831, 833 (2000) (citing Berg v. State, 131 Idaho 517, 518-19, 960 P.2d 738, 739-40 (1998)).

A petition for post-conviction relief based on a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel will survive a motion for summary dismissal if the petitioner establishes: (1) a material issue of fact exists as to whether counsel's performance was deficient; and (2) a material issue of fact exists as to whether the deficiency prejudiced petitioner's case....