Coggeshell v. State
Coggeshell v. State
Opinion of the Court
DECISION
Al Coggeshell appeals the district court's dismissal of his petition for post-conviction relief. We affirm.
12 We review a district court's order granting the State's motion to dismiss for correctness. See Medel v. State, 2008 UT 32, 16, 184 P.3d 1226. "On review, we may affirm the district court's holding based on 'any legal ground or theory apparent on the record, even if it differs from the district court's approach and was not urged by the parties." Id. (citation omitted). Furthermore, a petitioner's claim must be evaluated "in light of the entire record, including the record from the criminal case under review."
18 Coggeshell claims that his counsel was ineffective for failing to file a motion to suppress statements Coggeshell made to police because the statements were coerced. More particularly, Coggeshell asserts that he agreed to speak with the police only because the conditions in his cell were so deplorable that he was willing to do anything to get out of the cell, including speaking with police.
14 Coggeshell next asserts that his counsel was ineffective because counsel failed to file a motion to suppress evidence collected from a search of the victim's home. More particularly, Coggeshell argues (1) that the initial officers at the seene, who were employed by Moab City, were outside of their jurisdiction when they entered the home because the home was in unincorporated Grand County, and (2) that entry into the home without a warrant was illegal. Coggeshell's arguments fail because he had no standing to object to the search of the residence because he was a temporary visitor with no connection to the premises other than criminal activity. See United States v. Jacobsen, 466 U.S. 109, 122, n. 22, 104 S.Ct. 1652, 80 L.Ed.2d 85 (1984) (stating that a burglar has no legitimate expectation of privacy in home that he is burglarizing); Terry v. Martin, 120 F.3d 661, 664 (7th Cir. 1997) (stating that a temporary visitor with no connection to the premises other than criminal activity had no reasonable expectation of privacy and no standing to object to a search of the residence by police). In his petition, Coggeshell averred that he had standing because he resided in the residence where the rape occurred.
15 Coggeshell next claims that his counsel was ineffective because counsel failed to challenge the composition of the jury,
16 In regard to Coggeshell's claim that counsel was ineffective because he failed to remove two jurors with law enforcement backgrounds, Coggeshell again failed to state a claim for which relief could be granted because he failed to demonstrate that any juror was biased. Coggeshell claims that two jurors, who had worked for the National Park Service, were biased because of their "background" in law enforcement. However, law enforcement personnel are not automatically disqualified from jury duty in a eriminal case. See State v. Ramos, 882 P.2d 149, 153 (Utah Ct.App. 1994). A litigant must show that the juror was actually prejudiced or incompetent. See id. Here, one juror was merely a "communication manager for the National Park Service," and there was no indication that he was in any way involved in law enforcement. The other juror indicated that his history of law enforcement within the National Park Service consisted of dealing with dogs in the park, permit violations, and some theft of government property issues. That juror specifically stated that he did not believe his background would make him more inclined to believe law enforcement witnesses. In sum, nothing in Coggeshell's allegations or in the record indicate that either of the jurors were biased in any way. Accordingly, the district court properly determined that Coggeshell failed to state a claim for which relief could be granted in relation to the composition of the jury or in regard to whether any of the jurors were biased.
17 Next, Coggeshell argues that his counsel was ineffective because counsel entered into a stipulation to prevent both Cog-geshell and the State from discussing an incident that occurred between Coggeshell and a witness to the rape. As such, Cogge-shell asserts that he was not allowed to relate an incident whith he believed demonstrated that the eyewitness had a vendetta against him. Coggeshell fails to demonstrate that his counsel was ineffective. First, Cog-geshell fails to show that his counsel's performance was deficient. To do so a petitioner must "rebut the strong presumption that under the cireumstances, the challenged action might be considered sound trial strategy." State v. Litherland, 2000 UT 76, ¶ 19, 12 P.3d 92. Further, "this court will not second-guess trial counsel's legitimate strategic choices, however flawed those choices might appear in retrospect." State v. Tennyson, 850 P.2d 461, 465 (Utah Ct.App. 1993). Here, during a discussion of Coggeshell's proposed testimony, Coggeshell's trial counsel stated on the record that he believed the stipulation with the State was "more beneficial" to Coggeshell than allowing both sides to discuss the incident. Thus, counsel had considered the issues and made the strategic choice to stipulate that the incident not be raised by either party. Coggeshell fails to set forth any allegations to overcome the presumption afforded to trial counsel's strategic choices.
T9 Finally, Coggeshell asserts a sufficiency of the evidence argument by asserting that the testimony of.the victim and the eyewitness to the rape were not credible. Coggeshell did not raise this argument in his petition for post-conviction relief. Accordingly, the issue was not preserved for appeal, and we do not address it. See State v. King, 2010 UT App 396, ¶ 18, 248 P.3d 984.
1 10 Affirmed.
. Coggeshell asserts that the water was turned off in his cell so that he was "forced" to wash his hands in the toilet, which contained urine. It is worth noting that the record indicates that the water was turned off because Coggeshell had blood on his hands when he was placed in the cell and the police officers did not want to give Coggeshell the opportunity to wash the potential evidence from his hands before it was processed.
. In his brief, Coggeshell changes course and argues that he was an invited guest, instead of a resident. However, because Coggeshell did not adequately preserve this argument below, we do not address the argument on appeal. See State v. King, 2010 UT App 396, ¶ 18, 248 P.3d 984.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Al COGGESHELL, and v. STATE of Utah, and
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published