2009-M-109             Eric Maurice Wright, petitioner, Appellant, vs. State of Minnesota, Respondent.

Appellant was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of release in connection with the stabbing death of 82-year-old Raymond Wander. 

Appellant appeals the post-conviction court’s summary dismissal of his petition for post-conviction relief.  In 2005, a Stearns County jury found Wright guilty of the first-degree premeditated murder of 82-year-old Raymond Wander.  The district court convicted Wright and sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole.  On direct appeal, we affirmed Wright’s conviction and sentence. Specifically, we held that: (1) the district court did not abuse its discretion by admitting Spreigl evidence of Wright’s prior assault,  (2) the prosecutor did not commit misconduct, (3) Wright’s sentence was not unlawfully determined, and (4) Wright’s trial counsel did not provide ineffective assistance,

Wright subsequently filed a post-conviction petition, and the post-conviction court denied all claims without conducting an evidentiary hearing.  Wright appeals, raising 13 claims that he argues warrant an evidentiary hearing or a new trial.  We affirm.

First, the district court erred by summarily denying appellant’s claims under Minn. Stat. § 590.04, subd. 3 (2008) because appellant did not file a second or successive petition for post-conviction relief.

Second, appellant’s claims are barred by the Knaffla rule (barring claims that were or could have been raised in earlier appeals), and the interests-of-justice exception does not apply.

Third, appellant’s appellate counsel was not ineffective.

Fourth, appellant is not entitled to an evidentiary hearing based on his claim of “new evidence.”

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

[MURDER]