Browning v. State
Browning v. State
Concurring Opinion
CONCUR IN RESULTS.
¶ 1 I concur in the results reached and agree the Application for Post-Conviction Relief should be denied. However, as I have noted before, I cannot agree with the cavalier way this Court tosses around the concept of “de novo review” as a shield to unbridled appellate decision-making.
¶ 3 One of the hardest traits for appellate courts to exercise is the self-discipline to function within the parameters of the law that limit our scope of authority. This Court should not and cannot adjudicate disputed facts “de novo ”, that is not within our historical scope of authority. While we must ensure the law is applied in a correct manner, we are constrained in our duty by the determination of the trier of facts as to any disputed facts in the case. For these reasons, I believe appellate courts must be vigilant in them application of the rules that ensure the objective and consistent enforcement of our laws, and reticent in merely trying to second guess a trier of fact.
Opinion of the Court
OPINION DENYING POST-CONVICTION RELIEF AND DENYING REQUEST FOR EVIDENTIARY HEARING
OPINION BY:
¶ 1 Michael Allen Browning was tried by jury and convicted of two counts of Murder in the First Degree, shooting with intent to kill, robbery with firearms, and arson in the District Court of Tulsa County, Case No. CF-01-1098. In accordance with the jury’s recommendation the Honorable Rebecca Brett Nightingale sentenced Browning to two sentences of death and terms of imprisonment, with a $25,000 fine. In the capital counts, the jury found the murders posed a great risk of death to another person and were especially, heinous, atrocious and cruel. This Court affirmed Browning’s convictions and sentences.
¶ 2 On April 29, 2005, Browning filed an application for capital post-conviction relief.
¶ 3 Browning’s first proposition does not present a claim of error under the post-conviction statutes. Browning claims he has a due process right to interview his co-defendant, Pethel, and asks this Court to determine whether state ethical rules governing attorney behavior conflict with his claim, to enter an order “clarifying the relationship” between Pethel and his attorney, and to either (a) allow Browning’s post-conviction counsel to contact Pethel without complying with professional rules of conduct, or (b) remand the case to the District Court for an evidentiary hearing on the issue of the status of Pethel’s representation by counsel. [Application at 17] This is a request for discov
¶ 4 Neither Proposition 11(A) nor Proposition III are properly raised under the post-conviction statute.
The applicant shall state in the application specific facts explaining as to each claim why it was not or could not have been raised in a direct appeal and how it supports a conclusion that the outcome of the trial would have been different but for the errors or that the defendant is factually innocent.9
Browning completely fails to state why each claim could not have been raised in a direct appeal. Proposition 11(A), that Browning’s level of participation in the crimes does not rise to the level of culpability sufficient to support the death penalty, could have been raised on direct appeal and has been waived. Browning admits in Proposition III, claiming errors in jury selection, that some voir dire issues were raised on direct appeal, but argues that other voir dire issues should have been raised as well. We will not allow a defendant to subdivide claims in order to relitigate an issue in an application for post-conviction.
¶ 5 In Proposition II(B) Browning claims that this Court’s mandatory sentence review was flawed because, essentially, Peth-el’s culpability in the murders and his subsequent conduct while incarcerated renders Browning’s sentence “arbitrary and freakish.” [Application at 30] This claim is not proper under the post-conviction statutes. The Court’s mandatory sentence review is required by law, as a safeguard, to determine whether the sentences of death were imposed under the influence of passion, prejudice or any other arbitrary factor, and whether the evidence supports the jury’s finding of a statutory aggravating circumstance.
¶ 6 Within the first three propositions, Browning notes in a paragraph concluding each proposition that, as far as this Court may consider those claims waived or barred, trial and appellate counsel were ineffective
¶ 7 In Proposition II, Browning claims he was not eligible for the death penalty given his low level of participation in the crimes. Browning planned the crimes, recruited Pethel, bound the victims, robbed the house, carried the victims to a closet, set the closet on fire, and told Pethel to shoot the victims.
¶ 8 In Proposition III Browning claims errors in jury selection deprived him of an impartial jury. This Court rejected this claim in Browning’s direct appeal.
¶ 9 In Proposition IV Browning claims that the accumulation of error at trial and on direct appeal warrant post-conviction relief. Browning cites no authority under which, on post-conviction, this Court may consider an accumulation of trial errors which were not raised as error in the post-conviction claim. Insofar as Browning intends this claim to apply to the errors raised in this post-conviction application, we have determined that those claims were barred, waived, or not proper claims under the post-conviction statute. They therefore do not require relief in accumulation.
Decision
¶ 10 The Application for Capital Post-Conviction Relief and Motion for Evidentiary Hearing are DENIED. Pursuant to Rule 3.15, Buies of the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, Title 22, Ch.18, App. (2006), the MANDATE is ORDERED issued upon the delivery and filing of this decision.
. Browning v. State, 2006 OK CR 8, 134 P.3d 816.
. At this Court's direction, the State filed its Response to Browning’s Application on July 3, 2006. Browning filed a Reply to the State’s Response on August 16, 2006.
. 22 O.S.Supp.2004, § 1089(C).
. 22 O.S.Supp.2004, § 1089(D)(4)(a).
. Davis v. State, 2005 OK CR 21, 123 P.3d 243, 244; Hooks v. State, 2001 OK CR 7, 22 P.3d 231, 232.
. 22 O.S.Supp.2004, § 1089(D)(3); Rule 9.7(D)(3), Rules of the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, Title 22, Ch.18, App. (2006). This Court may remand for an evidentiary hearing on the issue of discovery if failure to comply with a discovery order is the grounds for an issue raised in the application. Rule 9.7(D)(4), Rules of the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, Title 22, Ch.18, App. (2006).
. Rule 9.7(D)(5), Rules of the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, Title 22, Ch.18, App. (2006).
. Davis, 123 P.3d at 249. See also Bland v. State, 1999 OK CR 45, 991 P.2d 1039, 1041 (petitioner not entitled to depose witnesses when discovery claim is speculative).
. 22 O.S.Supp.2004, § 1089(C).
. Davis, 123 P.3d at 248.
. 21 O.S.2001, § 701.13(C).
. 22 O.S.Supp.2004, § 1089(C).
. Davis, 123 P.3d at 246; Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 2064, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984).
. Browning, 2006 OK CR 8, 134 P.3d 816, 825.
. Tison v. Arizona, 481 U.S. 137, 158, 107 S.Ct. 1676, 1688, 95 L.Ed.2d 127 (1987); Enmund v. Florida, 458 U.S. 782, 801, 102 S.Ct. 3368, 3378, 73 L.Ed.2d 1140 (1982).
. Browning, 2006 OK CR 8, 134 P.3d at 827-830.
. Hanson v. State, 2003 OK CR 12, 72 P.3d 40, 48; Warner v. State, 2001 OK CR 11, 29 P.3d 569, 573-74.
. Browning, 2006 OK CR 8, 134 P.3d at 828; Warner, 29 P.3d at 573-74.
. Al-Mosawi v. State, 1998 OK CR 18, 956 P.2d 906, 910.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Michael Allen BROWNING, Appellant v. STATE of Oklahoma, Appellee
- Cited By
- 8 cases
- Status
- Published