Opinion ID: 2632550
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the initial post-conviction proceedings

Text: ¶5 On April 20, 1995, Menzies filed a petition for post-conviction relief; he amended his petition on May 2, 1995. [1] In his amended petition, Menzies asserted seventy-three separate claims for relief, including claims that his trial counsel had provided ineffective assistance. On November 13, 1995, the State moved to dismiss the first seventy-one claims, arguing that the Utah Supreme Court had previously rejected them. However, the State's motion did not address Menzies' ineffective assistance claims. ¶6 On December 13, 1995, the State moved the district court for permission to conduct discovery by serving interrogatories on Menzies and deposing him, his original trial counsel, and other witnesses. Menzies opposed the motion, asserting that any discovery should be tailored to avoid breaching attorney-client and constitutional privileges. On February 7, 1996, Menzies moved the district court to direct the State to provide attorney fees as well as funds for both expert witnesses and an investigation of his claims of innocence, including a potential alibi that was allegedly not investigated by trial counsel in Menzies' underlying criminal case. Menzies indicated that the motion would be supported by the affidavit of a private investigator to be filed with the court. ¶7 On April 3, 1996, the district court entered an order deferring ruling on the State's motion to dismiss until after an evidentiary hearing could be held on the ineffective assistance of counsel claims. The court also set a timetable for the State and Menzies to file responsive memoranda to their respective motions. The court held another hearing regarding the State's motion for discovery and Menzies' motion for attorney fees and investigatory funds on May 6, 1996. On June 12, 1996, the district court ordered that the State be allowed to conduct limited discovery and that Menzies be awarded $2,000 to pay for an alibi investigation. In this order, the district court found that Menzies had partially waived his attorney-client privilege as to the records of his defense counsel, the Salt Lake Legal Defender Association (LDA), by claiming ineffective assistance of trial counsel in his post-conviction petition. The court also found that in order to prevent Menzies' right of habeas corpus from being unlawfully suspended, it was necessary to provide Menzies with funds to investigate his claims, specifically his claims regarding an uninvestigated alibi defense. The court deferred ruling on Menzies' request for attorney fees until an evidentiary hearing could be held. The State filed an interlocutory appeal from this order. ¶8 On May 17, 1996, the State served its first set of interrogatories on Menzies. On June 7, 1996, the State also served the LDA attorneys who had represented Menzies during his criminal trial with subpoenas duces tecum to have their depositions taken and requests to produce all documents relating to their representation of Menzies. On June 19, 1996, LDA intervened and filed a motion for redetermination and clarification of the district court's order granting discovery. LDA argued that Menzies had not waived the attorney-client privilege and that even if he had, the waiver was limited by the subject matter of Menzies' claims and the right against self incrimination. LDA also moved the district court for a protective order preventing the discovery of privileged attorney-client information from current or former LDA attorneys. Finally, LDA requested that the district court stay the depositions and discovery procedures pending the resolution of its motions. ¶9 On July 8, 1996, the State filed a motion requesting that the district court compel Menzies to respond to the interrogatories that the State had served him on May 17. On July 9, 1996, LDA filed a motion requesting that the court either quash the subpoenas duces tecum the State had served on its attorneys or issue a protective order limiting the production of privileged LDA documents relating to Menzies' criminal trial. On July 10, 1996, Menzies also moved for a protective order, asking that the LDA attorneys not be deposed and that he be relieved from having to respond to the State's interrogatories. Menzies argued that there was inadequate time to review the documents requested by the State to determine privilege issues. Menzies also noted that the State had not yet paid the $2,000 in investigative funds ordered by the district court and that he could not fully answer the State's interrogatories until the alibi investigation was completed. In addition, Menzies moved to stay the proceedings pending the State's appeal from the district court's interlocutory order regarding investigative funds to the Utah Supreme Court. ¶10 The district court conducted a hearing regarding LDA's July 8 motion on July 16, 1996. At the hearing, the court stayed all motions pending the State's interlocutory appeal and gave the State until July 19, 1996, to respond to Menzies' motions. The court also stayed the depositions of the LDA attorneys, which had been scheduled for July 18, 1996, and stated that they were to be rescheduled pending a hearing on the various motions on August 6, 1996. During the interim, the court ordered LDA to produce the non-privileged information that the State had requested and to prepare a privilege log as to the rest. Finally, the court ordered the State to pay Menzies the $2,000 in investigative funds as required by its prior order. The State did indeed provide Menzies with a check for $2,000 on July 19, 1996, reserving the right to challenge the district court's order requiring payment and to seek repayment from Menzies if the order was vacated. ¶11 Prior to the July 16 hearing, the State had prepared a proposed order regarding the discovery of LDA documents; the State amended its proposed order in light of the July 16 hearing and provided it to Menzies and LDA on July 22, 1996. On July 29, 1996, Menzies moved to extend the time for responding to the State's proposed order and to strike the August 6 hearing because he had not received a copy of the transcript from the July 16 hearing and thus could not properly object to the State's proposed order. The district court granted Menzies' motion on both counts. On August 6, 1996, LDA filed a memorandum, joined by Menzies, objecting to the State's proposed order. ¶12 On August 23, 1996, the State moved the district court for leave to take Menzies' deposition. On September 3, 1996, Menzies filed motions for a protective order and to stay all discovery. Menzies argued that the State had impermissibly made its payment of the $2,000 in investigative funds conditional on its right to seek repayment if the district court's order was overturned. Menzies asserted that this condition made it impossible for him to spend the funds because he was indigent and did not have the means to repay the funds in the event the State later sought to recover them. According to Menzies, he could not proceed with discoverythrough answering interrogatories and being deposedunless the investigative funds were made available and an investigation was completed. ¶13 On September 9, 1996, the State filed memoranda responding to Menzies' motions and LDA's objection to the State's proposed discovery order. The district court held a hearing regarding both issues. It ruled that the proposed order was sufficient as written and that any objections to the discoverable materials in LDA's possession could be handled through in-camera reviews by the court. Accordingly, the court executed the State's proposed discovery order. With regard to Menzies' motions, the court denied both of them but ordered that the $2,000 in investigative funds be paid to Menzies with no restrictions. Finally, the court granted the State's motion to depose Menzies and to compel him to answer its interrogatories before October 9, 1996. On October 15, 1996, LDA filed its privilege log with the district court. On October 22, 1996, the State moved for sanctions, asking that the district court strike Menzies' ineffective assistance of counsel claims because Menzies had failed to answer the State's interrogatories by October 9, as directed by the court. ¶14 On November 1, 1996, Menzies petitioned this court to allow him to appeal from the district court's June 12 order regarding the provision of investigative funds and also filed a motion to stay the post-conviction proceedings in the district court pending our decision. We denied the motion to stay without prejudice on November 18, 1996. After the State filed a motion to dismiss and a memorandum in opposition, Menzies withdrew his petition. Menzies then petitioned this court for a writ of extraordinary relief, again requesting that this court review the district court's June 12 order to determine the adequacy of the investigative funds. According to Menzies, the amount of investigative funds awarded by the district court was not sufficient to conduct an adequate investigation; Menzies' private investigator suggested in his affidavit that a reasonable estimate would be at least $8,250. He stated that he had identified twenty-six areas of investigation, each extensive and critical to a determination of guilt, that had not been adequately investigated during the guilt phase of Menzies' trial. ¶15 On January 2, 1997, we consolidated this petition with several other cases involving similar issues under the caption Menzies v. Galetka. On January 23, 1997, this court denied Menzies' petition for extraordinary relief, concluding that the preliminary conditions necessary for the grant of a writ under rule 65B of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure did not exist. However, we also stated that if Menzies challenged the adequacy of the investigative funds in the district court and the court denied him the relief requested, he could then petition this court for interlocutory relief, in which case we would address the adequacy issue in connection with the disposition of the other consolidated cases. ¶16 On January 31, 1997, this court issued its decision in the related case of Salt Lake Legal Defender Ass'n v. Uno, 932 P.2d 589 (Utah 1997), wherein LDA had petitioned this court for extraordinary relief from the district court's September 16 order. Id. at 589. In that case, we clarified the procedures courts should follow when applying the work product doctrine to privileged documents sought in discovery. Id. at 590-91. We granted LDA's petition, vacated the district court's September 16 order regarding the production of LDA documents, and ordered the district court to supervise discovery in accordance with the standards set forth in our opinion. Id. at 591. ¶17 On January 10, 1997, Menzies filed his answers to the State's first set of interrogatories. The State subsequently withdrew its motion for sanctions. On February 3, 1997, Menzies filed with the district court a motion to increase the funds available for investigation fees to at least $8,250, based on the private investigator's affidavit. The State opposed the motion. The district court heard the issue on February 24, 1997, and it denied Menzies' request for additional funds, ordered Menzies to use an in-state investigator, and again reserved ruling on Menzies' request for attorney fees until after an evidentiary hearing.