Stewart v. State
Stewart v. State
Opinion
*958 Reginald Stewart petitions this court for review of the Court of Appeals' decision affirming the district court's summary denial of his K.S.A. 60-1507 motion. Stewart agrees with the Court of Appeals' holding that the district court erred in reviewing and relying upon the State attorney's written response to Stewart's pro se motion without first appointing counsel for Stewart. Stewart's challenge on review is to the panel's determination that the district court's error was harmless because the motion, files, and record-exclusive of the State's written response-conclusively established that Stewart was not entitled to relief. Stewart claims that there were facts missing from the record that required an evidentiary hearing and appointment of counsel. We conclude that summary denial of the 60-1507 motion was appropriate in this case.
The State cross-petitions, arguing that the Court of Appeals erred in holding that "the district court may not invite the State to respond to the [60-1507] motion or review an unsolicited written response from the State until or unless the movant is represented by a lawyer."
Stewart v. State
, No. 115,149,
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL OVERVIEW
After two trials resulted in a hung jury, a third jury convicted Stewart of aggravated robbery. The 2011 incident giving rise to the conviction involved three men who accosted a pedestrian walking home from work on a dimly lit street. The assailants battered the victim before removing $8, some cigarettes, and a white lighter from his pockets. The victim flagged down a patrol officer who apprehended two fleeing individuals, Gerard Sillemon and Stewart. Sillemon had $8 in his pocket, and the white lighter lay on the ground between the two men. The victim identified Stewart-both at the crime scene and at trial-as being one of the robbers.
At trial, Sillemon testified that he pled guilty because he was the only person involved in robbing the victim. Stewart testified that he was in the vicinity and observed the crime, but that he was not involved in the robbery in any way. He claimed that the victim had misidentified him. Nevertheless, the jury convicted Stewart of aggravated robbery.
On direct appeal, Stewart raised three jury instruction challenges and a cumulative error argument. One of Stewart's jury instruction challenges argued that the eyewitness identification instruction was clearly erroneous for including "degree of certainty" as a factor for the jury to consider. The Court of Appeals held this instruction was erroneous but fell short of clear error.
State v. Stewart
, No. 107,723,
Subsequently, Stewart timely filed the pro se K.S.A. 60-1507 motion that is now before this court. The motion alleged error by the trial judge, ineffective assistance of trial counsel, wrongful failure to disclose a transcript by the State, discriminatory collusion between the prosecutor and the accuser, and conspiracy to convict Stewart on the basis of race by the Sedgwick County Public Defender's Office.
Almost a year later, the State, acting through counsel, filed a response to Stewart's motion, addressing Stewart's claims and arguing no evidentiary hearing was needed to resolve them. The record is not clear as to whether the district court ordered the State to respond or whether the State responded on its own volition. The district court's motion minutes sheet adopting the "authorities and arguments of the State ... as persuasive" and denying Stewart's motion without a hearing is dated the same day as the State filed its response, albeit the motions sheet was file-stamped a week later.
Stewart appealed the summary denial to the Court of Appeals. He alleged that the district court violated his due process rights *959 by failing to appoint counsel to represent him before it considered the State attorney's written response to the pro se motion. He also asserted that there are facts absent from the record regarding trial counsel's representation that require an evidentiary hearing, rendering the summary denial erroneous.
The Court of Appeals held that the district court materially erred in considering the State's response to Stewart's pro se motion without appointing counsel for Stewart or providing him with an opportunity to argue beyond the face of his original motion.
Stewart II
,
Stewart petitioned this court for review, arguing that the district court and Court of Appeals erred by not granting him an evidentiary hearing. The State cross-petitioned, arguing that the Court of Appeals erred in holding that Stewart should have been appointed counsel upon the State filing a written response to the motion.
APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL FOR 60-1507 MOVANT
In addressing Stewart's procedural challenge to the manner in which the district court handled the 60-1507 motion, the Court of Appeals noted the procedure set forth in K.S.A. 60-1507(b) ; the statutory right to counsel provided by K.S.A. 22-4506(b) ; and our restatement of the statutory mandates in Supreme Court Rule 183 (2017 Kan. S. Ct. R. 222).
"The district court can summarily dismiss the motion after reviewing it and the contents of the case file. Bellamy v. State ,285 Kan. 346 , 353-54,172 P. 3d 10 (2007). Otherwise, the district court has two choices. It can conduct a preliminary hearing during which lawyers for the State and for the defendant present legal argument and otherwise address whether the circumstances call for a full evidentiary hearing. A limited amount of evidence may be received at that preliminary hearing. Bellamy ,285 Kan. at 354 [172 P.3d 10 ]. Or the district court can appoint a lawyer for the movant, bypass the preliminary hearing, and set the motion for a full evidentiary hearing. See285 Kan. at 353-54 [172 P.3d 10 ]."2017 WL 2901146 , at *5.
The panel determined that the options do not include the circumstance in which the district court considers the arguments contained in a written response filed by the State, "without affording the movant the equivalent opportunity to be heard through a lawyer."
Standard of Review
The extent of Stewart's statutory right to counsel during a K.S.A. 60-1507 proceeding is a question of law over which this court has unlimited review. See
Mundy v. State
,
In addition, resolution of this issue requires interpretation of K.S.A. 60-1507, K.S.A. 22-4506, and Supreme Court Rule 183 (2019 Kan. S. Ct. R. 228). "Interpretation of statutes and Supreme Court rules raises questions of law reviewable de novo."
Thompson v. State
,
Stewart also argued before the Court of Appeals that the district court's failure to appoint counsel resulted in a due process
*960
violation. "The issue of whether due process has been afforded is a question of law over which [this court has] unlimited review."
Hogue v. Bruce
,
Analysis
Stewart's due process claim is based upon the notion that a response by the State triggers a pro se 60-1507 movant's right to be appointed counsel. He points to the decisions in
State v. Hemphill
,
Our analysis of the procedural due process claim looks first to see whether the State has deprived the claimant of life, liberty, or property. If so, the focus is on the extent and nature of the process which was due the claimant.
Hogue
,
We begin by looking at the source of Stewart's right to an attorney, if any. Although Stewart makes no claim that either the federal or state constitution provides him with the right to be appointed an attorney to pursue a postconviction collateral attack, it is helpful to keep in mind that neither constitution provides that right. The United States Supreme Court, in
Pennsylvania v. Finley
,
Likewise, this court has held that "[t]here is no constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel in an action pursuant to K.S.A. 60-1507."
Robertson
,
K.S.A. 60-1507, the statute in the Code of Civil Procedure that establishes the procedure for prisoners to file a motion seeking postconviction relief, does not mention any right to counsel for the movant. But K.S.A. 22-4506, a statute in the Code of Criminal Procedure, provides for the appointment of counsel for an indigent 60-1507 movant. Specifically, it provides:
"(a) Whenever any person who is in custody under a sentence of imprisonment upon conviction of a felony files a petition for writ of habeas corpus or a motion attacking sentence under K.S.A. 60-1507 *961 and files with such petition or motion such person's affidavit stating that the petition or motion is filed in good faith and that such person is financially unable to pay the costs of such action and to employ counsel therefor, the court shall make a preliminary examination of the petition or motion and the supporting papers.
"(b) If the court finds that the petition or motion presents substantial questions of law or triable issues of fact and if the petitioner or movant has been or is thereafter determined to be an indigent person as provided in K.S.A. 22-4504, and amendments thereto, the court shall appoint counsel from the panel for indigents' defense services or otherwise in accordance with the applicable system for providing legal defense services for indigent persons prescribed by the state board of indigents' defense services, to assist such person and authorize the action to be filed without a deposit of security for costs. If the petition or motion in such case raises questions shown by the trial record, the court shall order that the petitioner or movant be supplied with a transcript of the trial proceedings, or so much thereof as may be necessary to present the issue, without cost to such person." K.S.A. 22-4506.
In short, a district court has a statutory duty to appoint an attorney to represent an indigent 60-1507 movant whenever the motion presents substantial questions of law or triable issues of fact. Reiterating that concept is Supreme Court Rule 183(i) (2019 Kan. S. Ct. R. 230), which directs: "If a motion to vacate, set aside, or correct a sentence presents a substantial question of law or triable issue of fact, the court must appoint counsel to represent an indigent movant." Moreover, this court has said that "[t]here is no statutory right to counsel at the district court level stage for indigent K.S.A. 60-1507 movants until they meet the threshold showing of substantial legal issues or triable issues of fact."
Guillory v. State
,
Stewart's contention-that the
potential
for triable issues of fact is sufficient to trigger the statutory right to counsel in a 60-1507 proceeding-most likely emanates from an expansive reading of the following recitation from the oft-cited case of
Lujan v. State
,
"First, it may determine that the motion, files, and records of the case conclusively show that the petitioner is entitled to no relief, in which case it will summarily deny the petitioner's motion. Second, the court may determine from the motion, files, and record that a substantial issue or issues are presented, requiring a full evidentiary hearing with the presence of the petitioner. Third, the court may determine that a potentially substantial issue or issues of fact are raised in the motion, supported by the files and record, and hold a preliminary hearing after appointment of counsel to determine whether in fact the issues in the motion are substantial. In the event the court determines that the issue or issues are not substantial, the court may move to a final decision without the presence of the petitioner. If the issue or issues are substantial, involving events in which the petitioner participated, the court must proceed with a hearing involving the presence of the petitioner." ( Emphasis added.)270 Kan. at 170-71 ,14 P.3d 424 .
*962 The actual question being addressed in Lujan , however, was whether the 60-1507 movant had the right to be present at a full evidentiary hearing under the second avenue described above, i.e., after the district court had determined the motion, files, and record presented a substantial issue. The Lujan court did not need to establish the point in the proceedings at which the statutory right to counsel became effective because Lujan did, in fact, have an attorney representing him at the evidentiary hearing; movant's complaint was that he was not personally present to help his attorney prosecute his motion.
Moreover, the questions of when a movant is entitled to the appointment of counsel and when the movant is entitled to be present at a court hearing on the motion are separate inquiries. For instance, K.S.A. 60-1507(b) separates the right to a hearing from the right to be present at the hearing. It first directs the district court to "grant a prompt hearing" on a 60-1507 motion to "determine the issues and make findings of fact and conclusions of law," except when "the motion and the files and records of the case conclusively show that the prisoner is entitled to no relief." K.S.A. 60-1507(b). But then K.S.A. 60-1507(b) goes on to provide that "[t]he court may entertain and determine such motion without requiring the production of the prisoner at the hearing." Likewise, Supreme Court Rule 183 separates the right to counsel and the right to be present: Rule 183(h) provides that an imprisoned movant "must be produced at the hearing on a motion ... if there are substantial issues of fact regarding events in which the movant participated"; whereas Rule 183(i), as noted above, states that, if a motion "presents a substantial question of law or triable issue of fact, the court must appoint counsel to represent an indigent movant." Supreme Court Rule 183(h), (i) (2019 Kan. S. Ct. R. 230).
Consequently,
Lujan
's dicta about the third avenue of approach available to a district court should not be read so expansively as to make the court's discernment of a
potential
substantial issue the event that triggers the statutory
requirement
to appoint counsel for an indigent movant. We intimated as much in
Mundy
when we noted that this court had previously "implicitly recognized the district court [has] the statutory power to exercise discretion and appoint counsel ... where the motion presents a
potentially
substantial question of law or triable issue of fact. Cf. Supreme Court Rule 183(i) (2017 Kan. S. Ct. R. 222) (court
must
appoint counsel if 60-1507 motion presents a substantial question of law or triable issue of fact)."
Nevertheless,
Lujan
's reference to the appointment of counsel under its third avenue of approach was not incorrect. Rather, the event in that circumstance that gives rise to the need to appoint counsel for the movant is the district court's determination to "hold a preliminary hearing," at which the State will be represented by an attorney.
The next step, then, is to look at what constitutes a hearing at which due process requires an attorney for a 60-1507 movant. At one end of the spectrum, K.S.A. 60-1507(b) requires the district court to notify the county attorney and grant a prompt hearing "unless the motion and the files and records of the case conclusively show that *963 the prisoner is entitled to no relief." If the district court has made that determination-that the motion, files, and records do not conclusively show the movant is entitled to no relief-and ordered the statutorily required hearing, it has necessarily determined the presence of substantial questions of law or triable issues of fact. Consequently, that determination invokes the movant's statutory right to counsel, and the district court must appoint counsel for an indigent movant, without regard to whether the State is represented by an attorney at the hearing.
At the other end of the spectrum, when the district court determines on its own that the motion, files, and records of the case conclusively show that movant is entitled to no relief, the motion can be summarily denied, i.e., without hearing and without appointed counsel. In-between-when the district court exercises its discretion to order a preliminary hearing to assist in making the determination of whether the motion, files, and records present substantial questions of law or triable issues of fact-our due process jurisprudence dictates that the district court appoint an attorney to represent an indigent movant if the State appears in court at that preliminary hearing through an attorney.
That leads us to Stewart's contention that the district court's consideration of a written response by an attorney for the State is the functional equivalent of an in-court preliminary hearing. He adopts the Court of Appeals' opinion in this case that declares that a district court's summary denial of a 60-1507 motion can be "based only on the motion and the record in the underlying criminal case," and that the district court may not look at a written response by the State "until or unless the movant is represented by a lawyer."
Stewart II
,
The State counters that the
Stewart II
panel created a new test for determining when counsel must be appointed in a 60-1507 proceeding that contravenes statutory provisions, Supreme Court Rules, and established caselaw and that treats the process as if it were intended to be an ex parte proceeding. Contrary to the panel's notion that a State response to a 60-1507 motion triggers a right to counsel for the movant, the State contends that the well-established existing test requires the appointment of counsel only when movant has raised substantial issues or when the court conducts an
actual
hearing at which the State is represented. The State argues that it is a party in the 60-1507 proceedings and that there is nothing in our statutes or rules precluding it from responding as it would to any other civil motion. Cf.
Pabst v. State
,
Further, the State challenges the Stewart II panel's assessment that the factual distinctions in Jones have no legal significance. In that case, the district court reviewed the motion, files, and records and summarily denied relief on all issues except one. Then the court ordered the State to submit a brief on the one remaining issue, but the court did not permit the movant to brief the issue or respond to the State's brief. Further, the court did not appoint counsel for the movant. The State contends that the briefing order makes Jones factually distinguishable.
Nevertheless, as the State points out, the
Stewart II
panel ignored the rationale of other Court of Appeals panels that have rejected the argument that, for due process purposes, the district court's review of the State's written response was the same as the court conducting a preliminary hearing at which the State was represented by an attorney. See, e.g.,
Noyce v. State
, No. 114,971,
*964
Thuko v. State
, No. 115,662,
In short, the Stewart II panel expanded upon the process that the Hemphill court held was due to a postconviction movant with respect to appointed counsel. We decline to make that expansion; rather, it is when the district court conducts an actual hearing with the State represented that due process dictates a movant's right to counsel.
As we observed in
State v. Nunn
,
With respect to the statutory right to counsel, the
Stewart II
panel creatively interpreted K.S.A. 60-1507(b). It declared that, without appointing an attorney for a movant, a district court "can summarily deny relief based only on the motion and the record in the underlying criminal case," and it "may not entertain argument from the State" contained in a written response.
Stewart II
,
In sum, an indigent 60-1507 movant has a statutory right to counsel if the district court finds that the motion presents substantial questions of law or triable issues of fact. That did not occur in this case. Further, as a matter of procedural due process, a movant has the right to counsel when the court holds a hearing at which the State is represented by counsel. There was no hearing in this case; the State's filing of a response to the motion, standing alone, did not constitute a hearing. The Court of Appeals holding to the contrary is overruled.
SUBSTANTIVE CLAIMS FOR RELIEF
Although we disagree with the Court of Appeals' resolution of the right to counsel issue, we agree with the Court of Appeals' resolution of Stewart's substantive claims. The Court of Appeals reviewed each of the substantive claims Stewart raised in his 60-1507 motion and explained why each did not warrant relief. On review, defense counsel focuses on the claim that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to call an eyewitness identification expert to testify and refute the victim's identification of Stewart as one of the robbers. We begin with that claim.
*965 Standard of Review
"When the district court summarily denies a K.S.A. 60-1507 motion, an appellate court conducts de novo review to determine whether the motion, files, and records of the case conclusively establish that the movant is not entitled to any relief."
Wimbley v. State
,
Analysis
With respect to Stewart's claims that his trial counsel was ineffective, he must establish:
"[T]hat counsel's performance was constitutionally deficient, which requires a showing that counsel made errors so serious that his or her performance was less than that guaranteed to the defendant by the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and that counsel's deficient performance prejudiced the defense, which requires a showing that counsel's errors were so serious as to deprive the defendant of a fair trial." Trotter v. State ,288 Kan. 112 , 132-33,200 P.3d 1236 (2009).
As the panel noted, at the time of Stewart's trial, "the Kansas Supreme Court had consistently ruled that expert testimony could not be admitted regarding potential weaknesses in eyewitness identification.
State v. Gaines
,
Granted,
Laymon v. State
,
With respect to the other issues addressed by the panel, counsel in the petition for review does not provide argument as to why the panel was wrong on the merits. Instead, counsel simply inquires: "Similarly with the other issues made by Mr. Stewart, would not the opportunity to have counsel available and able to review the petition and the State's response potentially have made a difference in how the arguments and issues were raised and framed before the district court?" While the answer to that question may be yes, the issue is whether the arguments and issues that are actually contained in the motion, files, and records conclusively show that Stewart is entitled to no relief. And on that issue, the panel adequately addressed and correctly decided each claim.
On Stewart's claim that his trial counsel failed to challenge the sufficiency of the evidence, the panel pointed out that trial counsel moved for judgment of acquittal at the close of evidence and renewed the motion in written form after the jury's verdict. In other words, the claim is factually flawed. Counsel did all that he could at the trial level to challenge sufficiency.
With regard to Stewart's claim that trial counsel was deficient in failing to call the arresting officer as a witness at the third trial, the panel noted the absence of any explanation as to how the outcome of the case could have been different if defense counsel had done so. Likewise, we are not provided with that explanation and the claim lacks merit.
On Stewart's remaining three claims, the panel opined that they were "so conclusory
*966
and lacking in any factual anchors that we cannot meaningfully review them." Nothing we have received on review refutes the panel's determination that the remaining claims "all fail to set forth intelligible grounds for relief."
Stewart II
,
Stewart's counsel would have us remand for an evidentiary hearing to permit a fishing expedition in the hopes that the 60-1507 movant might catch a fact that could lead to something favorable. To the contrary, it is incumbent upon the movant to show that a triable issue of fact already exists and is identifiable at the time of the motion. Summary denial was appropriate here.
CONCLUSION
The Court of Appeals' determination to affirm the district court's summary denial of Stewart's 60-1507 motion on the merits of his claims is affirmed.
The panel's determination that the district court materially erred when it considered the State's written response to Stewart's 60-1507 motion without appointing Stewart an attorney is overruled. Because the district court correctly found that the motion did not present substantial questions of law or triable issues of fact, Stewart's statutory right to counsel did not arise. Because the district court did not conduct a hearing at which the State was represented by counsel, Stewart's due process right to counsel was not implicated or impaired.
Affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Reginald STEWART, Appellant, v. STATE of Kansas, Appellee.
- Cited By
- 29 cases
- Status
- Published