Townsend v. State
| Decision Date | 30 July 1998 |
| Docket Number | No. C7-97-1638,C7-97-1638 |
| Citation | 582 N.W.2d 225 |
| Parties | Otha Eric TOWNSEND, petitioner Appellant, v. STATE of Minnesota, Respondent. |
| Court | Minnesota Supreme Court |
Syllabus by the Court
The postconviction court properly denied the petition for relief without granting an evidentiary hearing. Petitioner's claim of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel was merely a conclusory allegation with nothing in the record supporting appellate counsel's performance was unreasonable and all other claims raised in the petition were known at the time of petitioner's direct appeal.
Otha Eric Townsend, Pro Se, Minnesota Correctional Facility, Stillwater.
Hubert H. Humphrey, Minnesota Attorney General, Sue Gaertner, Ramsey County Attorney, Mark Nathan Lystig, Assistant Ramsey County Attorney, St. Paul, for Respondent.
Considered and decided by the court en banc without oral argument.
Otha Eric Townsend appeals from a postconviction court's denial of his petition for relief without granting an evidentiary hearing. Townsend was convicted of one count of first-degree murder in 1994. We affirmed his conviction on direct appeal in 1996. Townsend subsequently filed a petition for postconviction relief, asserting multiple claims including ineffective assistance of counsel, violation of his right to counsel, violation of his right to due process, and prosecutorial misconduct. The postconviction court denied Townsend's petition without granting a hearing on the grounds that he waived the postconviction claims when he failed to raise them in his direct appeal. Townsend appeals from the postconviction court's denial of relief. We affirm.
In September 1994, a jury found Townsend guilty of first-degree murder and he was sentenced to life imprisonment. The facts surrounding the murder are set forth in this court's opinion in State v. Townsend, 546 N.W.2d 292, 294-95 (Minn.1996). Three months after his conviction, the state public defender's office filed a notice of appeal on Townsend's behalf. Townsend's appointed appellate counsel wrote an appellate brief and provided him with a copy of the brief on May 16, 1995, the day after the brief was due and filed with this court.
In a letter accompanying the brief, Townsend's appellate counsel informed him that the brief had been filed and that she argued the legal issues that she believed merited the court's attention. The letter explained that if Townsend wished to raise additional issues, his supplemental brief must be at the public defender's office no later than June 5, 1995 so that the office could bind and file it by the deadline, June 14, 1995. The letter also made Townsend aware that the court would likely conclude that any issues he did not raise in the supplemental brief would be waived.
Dissatisfied with the brief written by his appointed appellate counsel, Townsend completed a waiver of appellate counsel form and the public defender's office submitted the form to this court. Since the deadline for filing his appellate brief had already passed, the public defender's office also submitted Townsend's pro se motion for an extension of time to submit his pro se brief. Townsend also sent this court a copy of the completed waiver along with a specific request that the appellate brief submitted by the public defender's office be dismissed and that he be given an extension of time for filing his own appellate brief. As part of his written waiver of his right to appellate counsel, Townsend acknowledged he understood that he would be held to the same standard of responsibility as a licensed attorney and would have to comply with (1) the limited time schedules required for appeals; (2) the legal requirements as to the substantive content of briefs; and (3) the size and multiple copy requirements. In addition, Townsend certified that he understood that all existing legal issues regarding his present conviction must be raised in his direct appeal or they would be waived.
On May 31, 1995, this court granted Townsend's motion for an extension to file his appellate brief, setting the deadline for June 15, 1995, which was a day after the original due date of his supplemental brief. Townsend, however, wanted more time to write his brief, and he requested that the court review the matter and grant a 90-day extension. We denied Townsend's request, and Townsend contacted the public defender for guidance. By letter dated June 28, 1995, Townsend's former appellate counsel suggested that if he had not already done so, he should submit his brief immediately along with a motion for acceptance of the late filing.
Townsend did not attempt to file his brief until August 7, 1995, almost 2 months after the extended deadline. He also filed a motion for in forma pauperis reproduction of his appellate brief, which this court denied. Townsend's brief was not accepted because it was late, it was bound incorrectly, there were not enough copies, and there was no accompanying affidavit of service. This court did, however, permit Townsend to file a late reply brief, which he filed on September 28, 1995.
The only issue appropriately raised in Townsend's direct appeal was whether the trial court erred in admitting certain evidence resulting in an unfair trial. Townsend, 546 N.W.2d at 294. On April 26, 1996, although holding that certain evidence was erroneously admitted, we affirmed Townsend's conviction, concluding that any error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. at 297.
Townsend subsequently petitioned for postconviction relief claiming that (1) his right to effective assistance of trial and appellate counsel was violated; (2) his right to due process was violated when the trial court abused its discretion by allegedly failing to rule on pending motions, rushing the resolution of the case, and denying Townsend a continuance to test certain evidence; (3) his Sixth Amendment rights were violated due to prosecutorial misconduct; and (4) his right to due process was violated based on the cumulative effect of "many single substantive errors." The postconviction court denied Townsend's petition without holding an evidentiary hearing. The court determined that Townsend was aware of all of the postconviction claims, excluding the ineffective assistance of appellate counsel claim, at the time of his direct appeal and, therefore, he was barred from raising them in a postconviction proceeding. The postconviction court also summarily denied Townsend's ineffective of appellate counsel claim. Townsend appeals to this court, contending that the postconviction court erred by rejecting his petition without holding an evidentiary hearing.
In reviewing a postconviction decision, we determine only whether there is sufficient evidence to support the postconviction court's findings. Russell v. State, 562 N.W.2d 670, 672 (Minn.1997). The decision of a postconviction court will not be disturbed unless it abused its discretion. Id. Under State v Knaffla, once a defendant has had a direct appeal, "all matters raised therein, and all claims known but not raised, will not be considered upon a subsequent petition for postconviction relief." 309 Minn. 246, 252, 243 N.W.2d 737, 741 (Minn.1976). There may be an exception to the Knaffla rule where a claim known to the defendant at the time of a direct appeal, but not raised, is so novel that its legal basis was not reasonably available at the time of the direct appeal. Roby v. State, 531 N.W.2d 482, 484 (Minn.1995). Furthermore, even where the legal basis was reasonably available, "this court may allow substantive review of [a] claim in limited situations when fairness so requires and when the petitioner did not 'deliberately and inexcusably' fail to raise the issue on direct appeal." Russell, 562 N.W.2d at 672 (quoting Roby, 531 N.W.2d at 484).
The postconviction court here determined, and Townsend does not dispute, that the claims that Townsend raised in his petition, other than his claim of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel, were all known to him at the time of his direct appeal and, further,...
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