2007-M-044                Vernon Neal Powers, Petitioner, Appellant, vs. State of Minnesota, Respondent.

A jury found Powers guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree assault.  The Court affirmed the conviction on his direct appeal in 2003.  The Court affirmed his sentence during his first post-conviction appeal in 2004.  Here, Powers appeals the district court’s denial of a hearing for his motion that Blakely bars his sentence to consecutive sentences.  Here the Court held that this “motion for correction of sentence” was actually a third post-conviction appeal in which a new Blakely claim is barred by the Knaffla rule against claims that were or could have been raised in earlier appeals.

                    Gildea (Russell Anderson, Page, Paul Anderson, Hanson, Meyer, and Barry Anderson)

DATE OF DECISION:  May 17, 2007

RECORD NUMBER:  2007-059

FULL OPINION: 

DESCRIPTION:  [MURDER] 

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