Opinion ID: 1987342
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Failure to raise on appeal overruling of motion for continuance

Text: On May 7, 2001, nearly a month prior to trial, Williams' trial counsel filed a motion for continuance asserting a need for more time to prepare. The trial court heard oral arguments and overruled the motion two days later. On May 25, 2001, counsel filed a supplemental motion for continuance. Williams alleged, among other things, that fellow inmate Mathieu Hose had since stated that Williams admitted to stabbing a woman forty times and that the defense team was still waiting on additional forensic test results to determine if Williams was present at the crime scene. The trial court overruled the motion for a continuance. In his Rule 29.15 motion, Williams alleged that appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to raise this issue on appeal. Williams argues that the motion court clearly erred in denying this claim without an evidentiary hearing. To prevail on a claim of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel, the movant must establish that counsel failed to raise a claim of error that was so obvious that a competent and effective lawyer would have recognized and asserted it. The claimed error must have been sufficiently serious to create a reasonable probability that, if it were raised, the outcome of the trial would have been different. Smith v. Robbins, 528 U.S. 259, 285 120 S.Ct. 746, 145 L.Ed.2d 756 (2000). The record does not support Williams' conclusion that appellate counsel could have established that the trial court abused its discretion in overruling the motion. The decision on a motion to grant a continuance lies within the sound discretion of the trial court. State v. Brown, 902 S.W.2d 278, 289 (Mo. Banc 1995). At the hearing on the supplemental motion, defense counsel conceded that the state had no intention of using Hose's statement in its case; in fact, the state did not introduce at trial any evidence regarding Hose's statements. Williams could not have been prejudiced at trial by the state's decision to not admit Hose's statement. Counsel also did not explain how forensics testing could establish that Williams was not present at the crime scene and that a continuance to collect this evidence was necessary for the defense. In any event, defense counsel presented trial testimony from two forensics experts who testified that none of Williams' hairs were found at the crime scene and that none of his DNA was found under the victim's fingernails. Williams' allegations do not support a finding of a reasonable probability that appellate counsel could have successfully argued that the trial court erred by not granting a continuance to allow for further forensic testing. Williams' defense team had already conducted forensic tests and further tests could not establish Williams' contention that he was never present at the crime scene.