Campbell v. State

916 N.W.2d 502

Joseph Haywood CAMPBELL, Appellant,

v.STATE of Minnesota, Respondent.

A17-1943

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

Filed: August 15, 2018

Deborah K. Ellis, Ellis Law Office, Saint Paul, Minnesota, for appellant.

Lori Swanson, Attorney General, Saint Paul, Minnesota; and John J. Choi, Ramsey County Attorney, Adam E. Petras, Assistant Ramsey County Attorney, Saint Paul, Minnesota, for respondent.

Considered and decided by the court without oral argument.

OPINION

GILDEA, Chief Justice.

In this case we are asked to determine whether the postconviction court erred by denying appellant Joseph Haywood Campbell’s petition for postconviction relief without an evidentiary hearing. Because we conclude that the postconviction court did not err, we affirm.

FACTS

A Ramsey County jury found Campbell guilty of the first-degree premeditated murder of Naressa Turner, committed for the benefit of a gang, in violation of Minn. Stat. § 609.185(a)(1) (2016) and Minn. Stat. § 609.229, subd. 2 (2016). State v. Campbell , 861 N.W.2d 95, 97–98 (Minn. 2015). Witness testimony suggested that Turner’s murder was in retaliation for the role she had played in setting up the February 2012 murder of an Eastside Boys gang member.¹

Campbell, who was an associate of the Eastside Boys gang, visited the home of witness L.J. on the day of Turner’s murder. According to L.J.’s trial testimony, Campbell had a phone conversation while he was at her home. During that conversation, Campbell learned that Turner was back in the area after having moved away. L.J. testified that Campbell said "f**k her" and that Turner was an "OP," which means from a different gang or from the other side of the neighborhood. L.J. also testified that Campbell had a gun in his possession at the time.

After he left L.J.’s home, Campbell rode with I.R., D.M., and C.B. to a Super USA gas station in St. Paul. Campbell was recorded by the gas station surveillance camera wearing a black North Face jacket and a Halloween mask. D.M. testified that Campbell still had the mask when he returned to the car after leaving the gas station.

Turner was at the same Super USA gas station. She was there with two companions to purchase marijuana. Turner and her companions met L.H. at the station and followed him out of the station. L.H. drove a Chevrolet Malibu, and Turner followed in a Cadillac Escalade. Both vehicles drove through an alley and parked.

I.R. testified that he, Campbell, D.M., and C.B. then drove through the same alley. After passing by the Escalade, Campbell and C.B. asked to be let out of the car. I.R. also testified that, as they passed the Escalade, he heard someone in the back seat say they could not believe Turner was on the East Side.

Minutes after Campbell was let out of the car, a masked person approached the Escalade and fired nine shots from a handgun. Turner sustained multiple gunshot wounds, which resulted in her death. Approximately 15 minutes later, I.R. spotted Campbell on the street and gave him a ride. I.R. noted that Campbell was no longer wearing the black North Face jacket. Campbell subsequently asked to be dropped off, and he then disappeared from St. Paul for 6 weeks.

The jury found Campbell guilty of first-degree premeditated murder for the benefit of a gang. Campbell , 861 N.W.2d at 97–98. The district court convicted Campbell of that offense and sentenced him to life imprisonment without the possibility of release. Id. Campbell appealed his conviction, and we affirmed. Id.

Following his direct appeal, Campbell filed a petition for postconviction relief. In his petition, Campbell alleged that L.J. recanted her trial testimony. He also alleged that his trial counsel was ineffective and that the State did not disclose exculpatory information. The postconviction court denied the petition without an evidentiary hearing.

The postconviction court rejected the witness-recantation claim, determining that the test from Larrison v. United States , 24 F.2d 82, 87–88 (7th Cir. 1928) was not met.² The postconviction court also denied relief on the claims for failure to disclose exculpatory evidence and ineffective assistance of counsel after determining that Campbell could have raised those claims on direct appeal, and they were therefore barred by State v. Knaffla , 309 Minn. 246, 243 N.W.2d 737 (1976). The court alternatively denied relief on Campbell’s claim for ineffective assistance of counsel after concluding that even if the claim were true, Campbell was not entitled to relief. This appeal follows.

ANALYSIS

On appeal, Campbell argues that the postconviction court erred in concluding that the allegations in his petition failed to meet the standard set out in Larrison for witness-recantation claims. Campbell also contends that the postconviction court erred in concluding that Knaffla bars his ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim and his claim that the State failed to turn over exculpatory evidence as required under Brady v. Maryland , 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963). Finally, Campbell asserts that the postconviction court erred by not holding an evidentiary hearing on his claims. We review the denial of a petition for postconviction relief, including the petitioner’s request for an evidentiary hearing, for an abuse of discretion. Colbert v. State , 870 N.W.2d 616, 621 (Minn. 2015). We review legal issues de novo and factual findings for clear error. Id.

I.

We turn first to Campbell’s witness-recantation claim. Campbell argues that L.J. recanted her trial testimony and that he therefore is entitled to a new trial or, at a minimum, an evidentiary hearing. The postconviction court concluded that Campbell’s claim did not satisfy the test from Larrison . The postconviction court therefore denied Campbell’s petition and his motion for an evidentiary hearing.

A.

The Larrison test requires that: (1) the court is reasonably well-satisfied that the testimony given by a material witness is false; (2) without that testimony the jury might have reached a different conclusion; and (3) the party seeking a new trial was taken by surprise when the false testimony was given and was unable to meet it or did not know of its falsity until after trial. Williams v. State , 692 N.W.2d 893, 896 (Minn. 2005). Although the first two prongs are mandatory, the third prong, while relevant, is not a requirement for relief. Ortega v. State , 856 N.W.2d 98, 103 (Minn. 2014).

The postconviction court rejected Campbell’s witness-recantation claim, concluding that it failed under all three prongs of the Larrison test. We need not decide whether Campbell’s claim fails under the second or third prong, because we conclude it fails to meet the first prong. See Martin v. State , 865 N.W.2d 282, 291 (Minn. 2015) (explaining that because the petitioner failed to satisfy the first prong of the Larrison test, it was "not necessary to address the other Larrison criteria").

On the first prong, the postconviction court found that Campbell’s allegation that L.J.’s testimony "was false is based on a letter ... with no statements from the witness herself." The record supports that finding. The letter Campbell offered is handwritten and signed by "Business as Usual." Campbell argues that the letter is from L.J.’s uncle, and that it provides evidence that L.J. is recanting her trial testimony. But the letter is not a sworn statement, and the record does not establish who wrote it. Moreover, the letter does not identify L.J. as the recanting witness, explain why the witness has chosen to recant, or even describe what part of the testimony is being recanted. Finally, the letter contains hearsay within hearsay because it is an out of court statement that a witness (allegedly L.J.) told the letter’s author that the witness was recanting her testimony.

In addition to the letter, Campbell offered an affidavit from his counsel. The affidavit asserts that L.J.’s uncle told Campbell that L.J. "falsely testified" against Campbell at his trial and that she "is willing to recant." The affidavit also states that Campbell’s counsel went to L.J.’s home and attempted to interview her about Campbell’s trial, but L.J. was not available. Although the affidavit is notarized, it contains multiple layers of hearsay. Specifically, the affidavit reports that L.J.’s uncle told Campbell that L.J. told her uncle that her trial testimony was false and that she was willing to testify to that falsity.

As the postconviction court found, the record contains no direct statements from L.J. that she is actually recanting any of her trial testimony. At best, the record contains hearsay evidence that she is "willing" to do so. But we have "never held" that hearsay evidence is sufficient to warrant a new trial under the first prong of Larrison . McKenzie v. State , 872 N.W.2d 865, 875 (Minn. 2015).

Based on this analysis, we hold that the postconviction court properly determined that Campbell did not satisfy the first prong of Larrison and was therefore not entitled to a new trial on his witness-recantation claim.

B.

Campbell argues that even if he is not entitled to a new trial, he is at least entitled to an evidentiary hearing on his recantation claim. And he argues that the postconviction court erred in applying the Larrison test to his request for an evidentiary hearing. Specifically, Campbell argues that the Larrison test is applied when deciding whether to grant a new trial, not whether to hold a postconviction evidentiary hearing. Campbell asserts that rather than the Larrison test, the correct standard for granting an evidentiary hearing is whether the newly discovered evidence that L.J.’s testimony is something other than what she testified to at trial might cause the jury to reach a different conclusion. The State contends that although a different threshold may apply when awarding an evidentiary hearing, the Larrison test is still applicable to Campbell’s witness-recantation claim. The State further asserts that because the...