Where a defendant argued that the trial court erred in denying her motion for post-conviction relief after an evidentiary hearing due to her appearance at trial shackled in an ankle bracelet, the defendant did not present any testimony or evidence ...

Tagged with: effectiveness of counsel Post-Conviction Relief Shackled Defendant

Where a defendant challenged the denial of his post-conviction relief motion as untimely, the motion court was required to give appointed counsel the opportunity to file the amended motion to assert any additional facts including that the pro se motion ...

Tagged with: Post-Conviction Relief timeliness

Where defendant challenged the denial of post-conviction relief without an evidentiary hearing, the defendant’s claim that counsel was ineffective for failing to prepare for trial was refuted by the record, and the claim that counsel failed to advise the defendant ...

Tagged with: effectiveness of counsel Post-Conviction Relief

Where a defendant challenged the denial of post-conviction relief, the amended motion filed by post-conviction counsel was untimely, so the court clearly erred in failing to conduct an abandonment inquiry. Judgment is reversed and remanded. McAllister v. State (MLW No. ...

Tagged with: Abandonment Post-Conviction Relief timeliness

Where a defendant challenged the denial of his motion for post-conviction relief without an evidentiary hearing, the trial court did not err because the defendant failed to show that his counsel’s actions rendered his guilty plea involuntary. Judgment is affirmed. ...

Tagged with: effectiveness of counsel Post-Conviction Relief

Where a defendant challenged the denial of her motion for post-conviction relief, the defendant absconded for more than 20 months, so the appeal is dismissed pursuant to the escape rule. Appeal is dismissed. Thomas v. State (MLW No. 74911/Case No. ...

Tagged with: Escape Rule Post-Conviction Relief

Where a defendant in a first-degree murder case argued that she received ineffective assistance of counsel in rejecting the state’s pre-trial plea offer for a 25-year sentence for second-degree murder and instead proceeding to trial, the motion court properly found ...

Tagged with: effectiveness of counsel Post-Conviction Relief Prejudice

Where a defendant challenged the denial of his motion for post-conviction relief, the defendant absconded from probation, so the escape rule is applied to deny review of the defendant’s first two claims, and the defendant did not allege facts in ...

Tagged with: Escape Rule Post-Conviction Relief

Where a defendant sentenced to death in a first-degree murder case challenged the denial of post-conviction relief, the defendant’s trial counsel made reasonable strategic decisions, and there was no abandonment by post-conviction counsel, so the denial of relief is affirmed ...

Tagged with: Abandonment Death Sentence Post-Conviction Relief

Where a motion court overruled defendant’s pro se motion for post-conviction relief on the merits, the defendant failed to allege any facts showing that his motion was timely or that the untimely filing fell into a recognized exception, so the ...

Tagged with: Post-Conviction Relief Pro Se Motion timeliness

Where a defendant in a robbery and burglary case challenged the denial of his motion for post-conviction relief, the claim of prosecutorial misconduct was not cognizable in a Rule 29.15 proceeding, the findings that counsel was not ineffective and that ...

Tagged with: Post-Conviction Relief prosecutorial misconduct