2008-0M-074         John Steven Martin, petitioner, Appellant, vs. State of Minnesota, Respondent.

Martin was convicted in 1999 of the August 28, 1996, murder of 17-year-old Paul Antonich.  On direct appeal in 2000, he argued (1) that his right to equal protection was violated by the State’s peremptory strike of the only African American in the jury pool; (2) that the district court abused its discretion in excluding testimony of a defense witness; and (3) that the district court abused its discretion by denying him a Schwartz hearing to evaluate allegations of jury misconduct.   We affirmed his conviction.

In 2007, Martin filed a petition for post-conviction relief with the Carlton County District Court.  The district court summarily denied relief.  Martin now appeals.  He argues first that he received ineffective assistance of trial counsel because his attorney failed to object to crime scene video and photos, failed to object to the use of a police report to refresh the recollection of the officer who heard Martin’s testimony, failed to assert the claims Martin raises in his post-conviction petition, and breached his fiduciary duty by talking to the press after the trial concluded.  Second, he argues that the district court violated his right to be present when it received the jury's request to meet with the victim’s family.  Finally, he generally alleges prosecutorial misconduct and trial court bias.  

The Court rejected this second petition for post-conviction relief.  Because the petitioner did file or could have filed all of his current appeals on this current petition for post-convictions relief during his earlier appeals, the Court rejected this petition under the precedent of Knaffla.

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

[MURDER}