2012-M-195       Daniel Leonard Anderson, petitioner, Appellant, vs. State of Minnesota, Respondent.

Appellant Daniel Leonard Anderson was indicted for, tried, and found guilty of first-degree domestic abuse murder, Minn. Stat. § 609.185(a)(6) (2010),1 and second-degree felony murder, Minn. Stat. § 609.19, subd. 2(1) (2010), for the death of his girlfriend’s 19-month-old son.  The district court convicted Anderson on the first-degree murder offense and imposed a sentence of life imprisonment.  We affirmed on direct appeal.   

In this, his first post-conviction petition, Anderson argued to the post-conviction court that it was error for the State to indict him under the domestic abuse murder statute.  He contended that he

should have been indicted under what he claims to be the more specific child abuse murder statute.  The post-conviction court denied relief without a hearing, reasoning that the claim was Knaffla-barred and that no exception to Knaffla applied.  We affirm.

Under Knaffla, a petition for post-conviction relief raising claims that were raised on direct appeal or that were known or should have been known but were not raised by the petitioner at the time of direct appeal is procedurally barred.  A claim is not barred by Knaffla, however, if (1) the claim is novel or (2) the interests of fairness and justice warrant relief.

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

[MURDER] [DOMESTIC] [KNAFFLA]