Title: State v. Harper

State: nebraska

Issuer: Nebraska Supreme Court

Document:

359 N.W.2d 806 (1984) 218 Neb. 870 STATE of Nebraska, Appellee, v. Ernest HARPER, Appellant. No. 84-448. Supreme Court of Nebraska. December 21, 1984. *808 Anthony S. Troia, Omaha, for appellant. Paul L. Douglas, Atty. Gen., and Linda L. Willard, Lincoln, for appellee. KRIVOSHA, C.J., and BOSLAUGH, WHITE, HASTINGS, CAPORALE, SHANAHAN, and GRANT, JJ. KRIVOSHA, Chief Justice. Ernest Harper appeals from an order entered by the district court for Douglas County, Nebraska, denying his request for post conviction relief sought pursuant to the provisions of Neb.Rev.Stat. §§ 29-3001 et seq. (Reissue 1979). Specifically, Harper maintains that because his trial counsel failed to object to the introduction of evidence of a subsequent crime admittedly committed by Harper in Iowa, he was denied effective assistance of counsel in violation of his constitutional rights. We have reviewed the record and conclude that the district court was correct in denying Harper's request for post conviction relief. Harper was initially charged by information with one count of robbery, one count of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and two counts of first degree sexual assault, all in violation of Nebraska statutes. Following trial to a jury, he was convicted on all counts and appealed to this court. On direct appeal his conviction was affirmed. See State v. Harper, 215 Neb. 686, 340 N.W.2d 391 (1983) (Harper I). The basis of Harper's direct appeal was that the district court erred in permitting the introduction into evidence of the subsequent crime committed by Harper in Iowa. We refused to consider that assignment on the merits in Harper I because Harper's trial counsel did not object to the introduction of the evidence and therefore waived any objection. Harper now maintains that the failure of trial counsel to object to the introduction of the evidence constituted ineffective assistance of counsel, thereby entitling him to post conviction relief. The specific crime for which Harper was convicted in Harper I involved the robbery of a restaurant, during which Harper sexually assaulted an employee of the restaurant. The evidence which was offered at trial concerned a subsequent robbery committed by Harper and three others. During the robbery, one of the restaurant's female employees was forced to disrobe, before Harper, anxious about the amount of time spent at the restaurant, ordered his companions to flee. In attempting to determine whether Harper's counsel failed to provide him with effective assistance, it is necessary that we consider the standards by which effective assistance is measured. In State v. Robinson, 218 Neb. 156, 159-60, 352 N.W.2d 879, 881-82 (1984), quoting from the U.S. Supreme Court decision of Strickland v. Washington, ___ U.S. ___, 104 S. Ct. 2052, 80 L. Ed. 2d 674 (1984), we said: "Thus, a court deciding an actual ineffectiveness claim must judge the reasonableness of counsel's challenged conduct on the facts of the particular case, viewed as of the time of counsel's conduct. A convicted defendant making a claim of ineffective assistance must identify the acts or omissions of counsel that are alleged not to have been the result of reasonable professional judgment. The court must then determine whether, in *809 light of all the circumstances, the identified acts or omissions were outside the wide range of professionally competent assistance. In making that determination, the court should keep in mind that counsel's function, as elaborated in prevailing professional norms, is to make the adversarial testing process work in the particular case. At the same time, the court should recognize that counsel is strongly presumed to have rendered adequate assistance and made all significant decisions in the exercise of reasonable professional judgment. Further, in State v. Robinson, supra at 160-61, 352 N.W.2d at 882, we said: Even before the U.S. Supreme Court rendered its decision in Strickland, this court adopted a two-part test for determining ineffective assistance of counsel. In State v. Otey, 212 Neb. 103, 105-06, 321 N.W.2d 453, 454-55 (1982), we said: See State v. Evans, 218 Neb. 849, 359 N.W.2d 790 (1984). An examination of the record discloses that evidence of Harper's guilt presented at the trial on the merits was overwhelming and more than sufficient to convict Harper in any event. Harper was identified as the assailant through voice identification. Additionally, one of the victims identified clothing worn by Harper in the Iowa robbery as similar to the clothing worn by one of the assailants. A forensic serologist also testified that semen found on the slacks of one of the victims came from a person with the same blood type as Harper. And perhaps most important of all, Harper voluntarily took the stand and, on direct examination, admitted he had committed the Iowa crime, but maintained that because he did not assault the waitress in Iowa, he could not be guilty of assaulting the waitress in Nebraska, in effect attempting to use Neb.Rev.Stat. § 27-404(2) (Reissue 1979) in reverse. Once Harper testified on direct about the Iowa crime, he waived any objection to the earlier introduction of the Iowa crime. Johnson v. Airport Authority, 173 Neb. 801, 115 N.W.2d 426 (1962); Sump v. Omaha Public Power Dist., 168 Neb. 120, 95 N.W.2d 209 (1959). One cannot elect a particular trial strategy and then complain if it proves unsuccessful. State v. Evans, supra; State v. Otey, supra; State v. Bartlett, 199 Neb. 471, 259 N.W.2d 917 (1977). We are unable to say that counsel's failure to object so undermined the proper functioning of the adversarial process that the trial cannot be relied on as having produced a just result or that if objection had been made, there is a reasonable probability that the result of the proceedings would have been different. It appears that the result of the trial would have been unchanged whether the evidence of the Iowa robbery had been admitted in evidence or not. Harper has simply failed to show that he was prejudiced by the introduction of the evidence. For this reason, therefore, the judgment of the district court denying Harper's request for post conviction relief is affirmed. AFFIRMED.