Do not sit unarmed on your porch if you are having an affair with the wife of a violent man!

2016-M-331       Derrick Trevor Griffin, Appellant, vs. State of Minnesota, Respondent.

THE BACKGROUND:  On the night of May 10, 2011, Griffin shot Kristopher Miller to death on the front porch of Miller’s home in Minneapolis.  Miller had been having a sexual affair with Griffin’s wife.

After a jury trial in 2012, the district court sentenced Griffin to life imprisonment without the possibility of release on the conviction of first-degree premeditated murder.  

In 2013, the Supreme Court affirmed Griffin’s conviction and sentence on direct appeal.

On July 31, 2015, Griffin filed a timely petition for post-conviction relief, claiming that he received ineffective assistance of trial and appellate counsel. The post-conviction court summarily denied relief, that is, it denied relief without holding a hearing.

HELD:  The post-conviction court did not err by denying appellant's claim of ineffective assistance of counsel because the performance of appellant's trial counsel was objectively reasonable.

Chutich (Gildea, Anderson, Dietzen, Stras, and Lillehaug)

               [CRIME] [MURDER] [PREMEDITATED] [FIRST-DEGREE] [DOMESTIC]

Date: August 03, 2016