Opinion ID: 2151426
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Failure to Request Stay and Remand

Text: Voorhees first contends that appellate counsel should have moved to stay his direct appeal and remand the matter to a postconviction court. He asserts a remand is required to allow for an evidentiary hearing in order to further develop the record to determine whether his trial counsel's assistance was deficient. As support, Voorhees relies on State v. Gustafson where we declined to decide the merits of an ineffective assistance of trial counsel claim on direct appeal, stating that such a claim should be raised in a petition for postconviction relief. 610 N.W.2d 314, 321 (Minn.2000). In Gustafson, we did not mandate that all ineffective assistance of trial counsel claims be decided only in the context of postconviction relief. Rather, we will consider such a claim on direct appeal, without the benefit of a postconviction evidentiary hearing, when an appellant requests that we do so. Roby v. State, 531 N.W.2d 482, 484 n. 1 (Minn. 1995). Furthermore, a postconviction hearing is necessary only when the record is not sufficient to allow proper review of the ineffective assistance of trial counsel claim. See Dukes v. State, 621 N.W.2d 246, 255 (Minn.2001) (concluding that ineffective assistance of counsel claims requiring evidence of attorney-client communications are properly raised in a postconviction petition). Here, the record on direct appeal was sufficient to determine the ineffective assistance of trial counsel claim without any additional fact finding. Thus, Voorhees' appellate counsel did not act unreasonably in going forward with the direct appeal rather than seeking a stay to allow Voorhees' pro se argument of ineffective assistance of trial counsel to be developed in a postconviction proceeding.