2012-M-212           Adrian Dominic Riley, a/k/a Amiri Abdul Rasheed-El, petitioner, Appellant, vs. State of Minnesota, Respondent.

This appeal presents the issues of whether the post-conviction court erred when it summarily denied appellant Adrian Dominic Riley’s second post-conviction petition without an evidentiary hearing, and whether the post-conviction court erred when it denied Riley’s motion for additional fingerprint and forensic DNA testing.  Riley was found guilty by a Carver County jury of three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree murder arising out of the 1995 shooting deaths of Troy Tholkes, James M. Walters, and Treesa Woods.  The district court entered convictions on the three counts of first-degree murder and imposed three consecutive life sentences. 

We affirmed Riley’s convictions on direct appeal.  State v. Riley (Riley I), 568 N.W.2d 518, 520

(Minn. 1997).  Because we conclude that Riley’s petition was time-barred as a matter of law and that the motion was not supported by adequate proof, we affirm the post-conviction court.  

HELD:  First, when the facts alleged in the petition and supporting affidavits are viewed in a light most favorable to appellant, he is conclusively entitled to no relief, and therefore the post-conviction court properly denied appellant’s second post-conviction petition without an evidentiary hearing.

Second, the post-conviction court properly denied appellant’s motion for additional fingerprint and forensic DNA testing because appellant failed to establish either that the technology for the testing was not available at the time of the trial, or that the testing was not available as evidence at the time of the trial.

Dietzen (Gildea, Page, Paul Anderson, Barry Anderson, and Stras)

[MURDER]