Woodson v. State

• Decision Date: 02 May 2012
• Docket Number: No. 53A01–1109–PC–466.,53A01–1109–PC–466.
• Citation: 966 N.E.2d 780
• Parties: Leondre WOODSON, Appellant–Petitioner, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee–Respondent.
• Court: Indiana Appellate Court

966 N.E.2d 780

Leondre WOODSON, Appellant–Petitioner,

v.STATE of Indiana, Appellee–Respondent.

No. 53A01–1109–PC–466.

Court of Appeals of Indiana.

May 2, 2012.

Stephen T. Owens, Public Defender of Indiana, Linda G. Nicholson, Deputy Public Defender, Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellant.

Gregory F. Zoeller, Attorney General of Indiana, Angela N. Sanchez, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellee.

BRADFORD, Judge.

Appellant–Petitioner Leondre Woodson appeals from the post-conviction court's denial of his petition for post-conviction relief ("PCR"), in which Woodson claims that he received ineffective assistance of trial counsel. We affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The facts underlying this post-conviction proceeding were detailed by this court in our unpublished disposition of Woodson's direct appeal:

On August 27, 2005, Woodson was a passenger in the front seat of a rental car that was pulled over for speeding. Woodson and the driver, Chinedu Onyeji, were driving to Bloomington. Bloomington Police Officer Walter Harris approached the car and asked the driver for his license and registration. When Onyeji opened the glove compartment to get the car rental agreement, the police officer observed Onyeji push a handgun to the side of the glove compartment.

The police officer subsequently ran an inquiry on the handgun to see if it was stolen. He was advised the gun was not stolen and that it had been registered to Onyeji and that Onyeji did have a valid permit to carry a firearm.

Further investigation revealed that the car rental agreement indicated Onyeji had rented the car and included Onyeji's signature. The rental agreement listed Woodson as an additional driver. Officer Harris stated Woodson acknowledged that he was on the car rental agreement as an additional driver, that he had paid for the car rental, and that he had driven the car. Onyeji told the officer the two were returning from a one-day trip to Gary, Indiana. Woodson told the police officer they went to Gary because he needed to obtain his birth certificate and an identification card and they made stops at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and at his friend's house.

Based on the circumstances of the stop, Officer Harris stated he suspected Woodson and Onyeji might be involved in drug trafficking. Officer Harris noted the two appeared nervous, had paid for a car rental with cash, and had taken a one-day trip to Gary. Officer Harris asked Onyeji if he could search the trunk of the vehicle, but Onyeji declined to allow the search. Officer Harris asked Woodson for permission to search the trunk, and Woodson consented to the search.

The officer opened the trunk and found it to be empty. He then opened the spare tire compartment and observed two bags of a white powdery substance and a handgun. Subsequent testing showed the bagged substance was cocaine. The separate amounts weighed 113.96 grams and 13.34 grams respectively. Woodson denied knowledge of the items.

Woodson and Onyeji were arrested. During a later statement to the police, Onyeji told the police that the gun in the trunk was Woodson's. Woodson was charged with Count I, dealing in cocaine, a Class A felony; Count II, possession of cocaine in an amount greater than three grams, a Class C felony; Count III, possession of cocaine while in possession of a firearm, a Class C felony; and Count IV, possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, a Class B felony.

Woodson v. State, No. 53A05–0604–CR–174, 2007 WL 506890, slip op. at 1–2 (Ind.Ct.App., Feb. 19, 2007), trans. denied.

Prior to trial, Woodson filed a motion to suppress the evidence seized from the rental car. On December 9, 2005, the trial court denied Woodson's motion to suppress. During the subsequent trial, Woodson's trial counsel did not renew any objection to evidence regarding the items seized from the rental car. On December 13, 2005, Woodson was convicted of Class C felony cocaine possession, Class C felony possession of cocaine while in possession of a firearm, and Class B felony possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon. The trial court sentenced Woodson to an aggregate sentence of twenty years of incarceration. On direct appeal, this court ordered Woodson's possession of cocaine while in possession of a firearm conviction vacated and affirmed in all other respects, leaving his aggregate sentence unaffected. See Woodson, No. 53A05–0604–CR–174, slip op. at 5.

On May 13, 2008, Woodson filed his pro se PCR petition. On February 10, 2011, Woodson filed his amended PCR petition. On August 24, 2011, the post-conviction court denied Woodson's PCR petition.

DISCUSSION AND DECISION

PCR Standard of Review

Our standard for reviewing the denial of a PCR petition is well-settled:

In reviewing the judgment of a post-conviction court, appellate courts consider only the evidence and reasonable inferences supporting its judgment. The post-conviction court is the sole judge of the evidence and the credibility of the witnesses. To prevail on appeal from denial of postconviction relief, the petitioner must show that the evidence as a whole leads unerringly and unmistakably to a conclusion opposite to that reached by the post-conviction court.... Only where the evidence is without conflict and leads to but one conclusion, and the post-conviction court has reached the opposite conclusion, will its findings or conclusions be disturbed as being contrary to law.

Hall v. State, 849 N.E.2d 466, 468, 469 (Ind.2006) (internal citations and quotations omitted).

Whether Woodson Received Effective Assistance of Trial Counsel

We review claims of ineffective assistance of counsel based upon the principles enunciated in Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984) :

[A] claimant must demonstrate that counsel's performance fell below an objective standard of reasonableness based on prevailing professional norms, and that the deficient performance resulted in prejudice. Prejudice occurs when the defendant demonstrates that "there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different." A reasonable probability arises when there is a "probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome."

Grinstead v. State, 845 N.E.2d 1027, 1031 (Ind.2006) (quoting Strickland, 466 U.S. at 694, 104 S.Ct. 2052). Because an inability to satisfy either prong of this test is fatal to an ineffective assistance claim, this court need not even evaluate counsel's performance if the petitioner suffered no prejudice from that performance. Vermillion v. State, 719 N.E.2d 1201, 1208 (Ind.1999).

Woodson contends that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object at trial to the admission of evidence related to the search of the rental car, thereby failing to preserve the issue for direct appeal. Woodson contends that (1) continued police detention and investigation beyond writing a traffic ticket violated Article I, Section 11 of the Indiana Constitution and (2) the record does not support a conclusion that he had apparent authority to consent to a search of the rental car, rendering the search improper under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Woodson argues that raising these claims on appeal would have had a reasonable likelihood of success and that the failure to preserve them therefore prejudiced him.

A. Whether Continued Detention and Investigation Violated Article I, Section 11

Woodson contends that Officer Harris's continued investigation of him and Onyeji violated Article I, Section 11, of the Indiana Constitution, which provides that

[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable search or seizure, shall not be violated; and no warrant shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the person or thing to be seized.

The Indiana Supreme Court has noted that

[w]hile almost identical in wording to the federal Fourth Amendment, the Indiana Constitution's Search and Seizure clause is given an independent interpretation and application. Mitchell v. State, 745 N.E.2d 775, 786 (Ind.2001) ; Baldwin v. Reagan, 715 N.E.2d 332, 337 (Ind.1999) ; Moran v. State, 644 N.E.2d 536, 540 (Ind.1994). To determine whether a search or seizure violates the Indiana Constitution, courts must evaluate the "reasonableness of the police conduct under the totality of the circumstances." Litchfield v. State, 824 N.E.2d 356, 359 (Ind.2005) (citing Moran, 644 N.E.2d at 539). "We believe that the totality of the circumstances requires consideration of both the degree of intrusion into the subject's ordinary activities and the basis upon which the officer selected the subject of the search or seizure." Id. at 360. In Litchfield, we summarized this evaluation as follows:

In sum, although we recognize there may well be other relevant considerations under the circumstances, we have explained reasonableness of a search or seizure as turning on a balance of: 1) the degree of concern, suspicion, or knowledge that a violation has occurred, 2) the degree of intrusion the method of the search or seizure imposes on the citizens' ordinary activities, and 3) the extent of law enforcement needs.

Id. at 361.

Myers v. State, 839 N.E.2d 1146, 1153 (Ind.2005).

At the suppression hearing, Officer Harris testified regarding the traffic stop. According to Officer Harris, he was alone on patrol at approximately 11:30 p.m. when he pulled the rental car over. Upon receiving Onyeji's driver's license from him, Officer Harris observed Onyeji push aside a handgun when he reached for the registration. Onyeji had not previously warned Officer Harris of the presence of the handgun. At that point, Officer Harris pulled his weapon and ordered the duo to place their hands behind their heads while he called for backup, which arrived approximately four...