2014-M-260       Chad Jamie Gulbertson, petitioner, Appellant, vs. State of Minnesota, Respondent.

Chad Jamie Gulbertson appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief, an action he brought following his convictions for murder in connection with the 2009 death of his former girlfriend, Jody Morrow.  In his petition for post-conviction relief, Gulbertson challenged his conviction for first-degree murder while committing domestic abuse and with a past pattern of abuse, asserting that there was insufficient evidence to support the jury’s finding that he had engaged in a past pattern of domestic abuse, that the district court erred in its jury instructions on a past pattern of domestic abuse, and that the district court committed plain error by admitting evidence related to orders for protection (OFPs) sought by Morrow against Gulbertson.  After an evidentiary hearing, the post-conviction court issued an order denying relief.  Gulbertson appealed, and we now affirm. 

1. The State presented sufficient evidence to support the jury’s finding that appellant engaged in a past pattern of domestic abuse.

2. The district court did not err in its jury instructions on a past pattern of domestic abuse.

3. The district court did not commit plain error by admitting evidence connected to orders for protection obtained by the victim because the admission of this evidence did not affect appellant’s substantial rights.

Affirmed.

Barry Anderson (Gildea, Page, Dietzen, Stras, Wright, and Lillehaug)

[MURDER]

A13-901,