Opinion ID: 2188128
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Resolution of Wrinkles's Successive Petition for Post-Conviction Relief

Text: In Wrinkles II we cited the trial court's policy as the reason the belt would have been used if objection had been raised. I think that summarized a more complicated line of reasoning that leads to the same result, but only if the premise is correct that the use of restraints was inevitable with or without an objection by counsel. In post-conviction proceedings, the defendant bears the burden of proving that counsel's performance was deficient and also that there is a reasonable probability that the deficient performance affected the result of the trial. There was a total lack of evidence in Wrinkles's post-conviction record to resolve the particularized need issue one way or the other. Similarly, there is no evidence of the information available to counsel at the time. But based on our conclusion that restraints were inevitable with or without an objection by the defense, we found that Wrinkles failed to establish both the performance and prejudice prongs of his claim of ineffective assistance. Although I concurred in Wrinkles II, I now believe we erred in hinging our analysis on the trial court's policy. I also believe the showing Wrinkles has made today is sufficient to cast doubt on our conclusion in Wrinkles II that restraints were inevitable even if an objection had been lodged. The Supreme Court of the United States has long held that unnecessary shackling is inherently prejudicial. Deck, 544 U.S. at 635, 125 S.Ct. 2007; Holbrook, 475 U.S. at 568, 106 S.Ct. 1340. Deck also placed the burden on the State to show beyond a reasonable doubt that unnecessary shackling was not prejudicial. Even if I am correct that our state post-conviction rules can shift the burden of proof in post-conviction proceedings to the defendant to prove prejudice from the restraint, the standard for a Sixth Amendment claim is a reasonable probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 694, 104 S.Ct. 2052. That is to be judged by an objective normalized standard without regard to the proclivities of the particular judge. Id. at 695, 104 S.Ct. 2052. The question is thus whether there is a reasonable probability that the restraints influenced the jury's recommendation, and the effect on an objective normalized sentencing judge of the absence of a recommendation in favor of the death penalty. Unlike Stephenson II, the post-conviction court in Wrinkles II made no finding as to the inevitability of restraints. Because we have no such finding here, we cannot assume that the trial court, if presented with the relevant controlling authority, would have adhered to a policy that required restraints as a matter of course. I believe the record in Wrinkles II was sufficient to raise a reasonable probability that an objection, if raised, would have triggered a hearing that would have led either to a restraint-free trial or to a reversal for failure to establish particularized need for restraint. The evidence of Wrinkles's guilt is such that the presumption of prejudice in the guilt phase is rebutted beyond a reasonable doubt. It is entirely speculative, however, what the evidence as to the need for restraints would have been, or what the effect of a visible belt may have been on the penalty. One of Wrinkles's trial attorneys testified in the post-conviction proceeding that Wrinkles behaved well throughout the case preparation and trial, and that he did not hear any complaints with regard to Wrinkles's behavior in the jail. There was no conflicting testimony, and no evidence of disruptive behavior or flight risk. In my view, the record is sufficient to establish a reasonable probability that there was no need for restraint. Finally, it is clear that Wrinkles raised essentially the same claim in Wrinkles II that he presents today. In any ordinary case either failure to present a theory supporting ineffective assistance or an adverse ruling as to a theory presented would preclude relitigating ineffective assistance in a subsequent post-conviction proceeding. Stewart v. State, 517 N.E.2d 1230 (Ind.1988); cf. Woods v. State, 701 N.E.2d 1208 (Ind.1998). This is a death penalty case, however, and the issue relates solely to the appropriate penalty. As the Supreme Court of the United States has famously observed, death is different. Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584, 606, 122 S.Ct. 2428, 153 L.Ed.2d 556; see also Gardner v. Florida, 430 U.S. 349, 357, 97 S.Ct. 1197, 51 L.Ed.2d 393 (1977). For this reason I would not preclude Wrinkles from exploring the need for restraints in a subsequent post-conviction proceeding.