Opinion ID: 2546714
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 15

Heading: Failure to Move to Suppress Baumruk's Statements to Officer Venable

Text: Baumruk argues that the motion court clearly erred by overruling his Rule 29.15 claim that his counsel was ineffective for failing to move to suppress the statements that Baumruk made to Corrections Officer Robert Venable after Baumruk struck Trina Bland, a medical assistant. Baumruk claims that Venable questioned him regarding an incident in which he assaulted Bland without first giving him a Miranda warning. Venable testified during the penalty phase of Baumruk's trial that he had been called to the clinic in the immediate aftermath of Baumruk's assault on Bland. Venable questioned Baumruk regarding the incident, asking him why he had assaulted Bland. Baumruk responded that she had lied to him about changing the dressings of a wound on a daily basis. Venable inquired further, So, that's why you assaulted a woman? To which Baumruk responded, Yes, that's right. I killed once and I would do it again. After an evidentiary hearing, the motion court overruled this claim because it found that Venable's question was not an interrogation and the trial court's admission of the statement did not violate Miranda. It also determined that trial counsel had a strategic reason for allowing this testimony. Baumruk's trial counsel made the strategic decision to defend their client on the basis that he was not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. As part of this defense, trial counsel sought to present evidence of Baumruk's diagnosis of a delusional disorder. This evidence included Dr. Shopper's testimony regarding Baumruk's delusional thinking. One example that Dr. Shopper presented was that Baumruk had attempted to discharge his counsel because they declined to call the doctor responsible for overseeing Baumruk's care to testify that Bland was not following that doctor's directions regarding changing the dressing of his wound. The strategic decision to defend Baumruk on the basis that he had a mental disease or defect was made after thorough investigation of law and facts relevant to plausible options by Baumruk's counsel and is, therefore, virtually unchallengeable. Strong II, 263 S.W.3d at 652 (internal quotations omitted). His counsel testified during the postconviction relief hearing that they considered a motion to suppress Baumruk's statement to Venable but decided against it because Venable's testimony was going to be mentioned by Baumruk's experts anyway. Because trial strategy is not a ground for ineffective assistance of counsel, the motion court did not clearly err in overruling this claim. Id.