BACKGROUND: On September 2, 2013, Dikken broke into the Granite Falls home of his ex-girlfriend and shot Cara Monson and Chris Panitzke as they slept. Monson died instantly, but Panitzke briefly survived five shots and called 9-1-1 after Dikken left the house. Police caught Dikken sleeping in the woods after a15-day manhunt.
Shortly before he murdered Monson and Panitzke, Dikken texted Monson’s family with the message that “everyone is getting what they deserve.” After Dikken’s sentencing, Monson’s brother told reporters that “now Andy Dikken is getting what he deserves.”
The State charged Dikken with two counts of second-degree intentional murder. Before an omnibus hearing, Dikken offered to plead guilty to two counts of second-degree murder with no conditions. The State then notified the court and Dikken that it planned to ask a grand jury to indict Dikken of two counts of premeditated first-degree intentional murder.
At the omnibus hearing, Dikken filed a motion to pled guilty to two counts of second-degree murder. The district court denied the motion. The Minnesota Rules of Criminal Procedure provide: “If the complaint charges a homicide, and the prosecuting attorney notifies the court that the case will be presented to the grand jury . . . the defendant cannot enter a plea at the Rule 8 hearing.” This denial of Dikken’s motion is the focus of this appeal.
Two weeks later, the State secured a grand jury indictment charging Dikken with two counts of first-degree murder.
Dikken ultimately reached a plea agreement with the State under which he pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree premeditated murder and one count of first-degree murder while committing a burglary. The district court accepted the plea, convicted Dikken of both counts, and sentenced him to two concurrent life sentences, one without the possibility of release.
Dikken filed a timely petition for post-conviction relief requesting that he be allowed to withdraw his guilty plea and instead plead guilty to the original second-degree-murder charges. The post-conviction court denied the petition without holding an evidentiary hearing, concluding that there were no material facts in dispute and that Dikken had failed to establish a manifest injustice entitling him to withdraw his plea.
HELD: The Supreme Court affirmed Dikken’s conviction, his sentence, the district court’s observance of the Minnesota Rules of Criminal Procedure in denying Dikken’s post-indictment motion to plead to lesser charges, and the post-conviction court’s decisions to not hold a hearing and to deny Dikken’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea.
“The post-conviction court did not abuse its discretion when it denied the appellant’s request to withdraw his guilty plea. Affirmed.”
Stras (Gildea, Anderson, Lillehaug, Hudson, Chutich, and McKeig)
Date: June 21, 2017
[CRIME] [MURDER]
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Demographic Information**
MNDOC Offender ID:
244302
Name:
Andrew Joseph Dikken
Birth Date:
06/27/1985
Current Status:
Incarcerated as of 06/30/2014. Currently at MCF Rush City.
Sentence Date:
06/30/2014
Anticipated Release Date:
Life without Parole
Expiration Date:
Life
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