Opinion ID: 2543365
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Claims Raised on Direct Appeal by Carter

Text: ¶ 8 The following claims are procedurally barred because they were previously raised on direct appeal by Carter in Carter I or Carter II: (1) Counsel during the 1985 trial was ineffective for (a) failing to seek any pretrial discovery from the State, (b) failing to conduct any investigation into the crime, and (c) failing to request appointment of a psychiatric expert to assist in Carter's defense. (2) The trial court during the 1992 penalty hearing failed to remove for cause biased and incompetent members of the venire panel. (3) The trial court during the 1992 penalty hearing admitted into evidence the abstract of testimony from the first trial, which denied Carter's right to confront and cross examine the witnesses against him. (4) The trial court erred in denying Carter's motion for a change of venue. (5) The trial court refused to suppress Carter's statements to police, despite the fact that police officers allegedly used questionable means to obtain the statements. (6) The prosecution in Carter's 1985 trial engaged in misconduct by (a) improperly commenting on Carter's right to remain silent, (b) improperly vouching for a witness during his closing argument, (c) improperly interfering with the attorney-client relationship between Carter's wife and her attorney, and (d) improperly, and without authorization, granting immunity to Carter's wife. (7) The trial court during the 1992 penalty hearing improperly admitted prejudicial victim impact evidence. (8) The trial court failed to instruct the jury that they must vote unanimously as to the aggravating circumstance. (9) Carter was denied a fair sentencing determination because the guilt phase and first penalty hearing were not bifurcated. (10) The trial court during the 1992 penalty hearing submitted an aggravating circumstance to the jury that was not supported by sufficient evidence. (11) The Utah Supreme Court improperly applied the harmless error analysis to the admission of the victim impact evidence at the 1992 sentencing hearing. (12) The Utah Supreme Court acknowledged errors in the 1992 penalty hearing, yet the court refused to find that Carter was prejudiced based on the cumulative effect of the errors. (13) Carter was subjected to double jeopardy because evidence was admitted during the penalty phase regarding the rape or attempted rape charges, after the jury, during the guilt phase, found Carter not guilty of those charges. (14) Carter was denied adequate appellate review because the jury was not required to submit a special verdict form finding each aggravating circumstance beyond a reasonable doubt. (15) There is an unconstitutional conflict between two subsections of 76-3-207 of the Utah Code. (16) The trial court prejudicially instructed the jury on crimes that had not been charged in the Information. ¶ 9 Because the above-listed claims were previously raised on direct appeal by Carter in either Carter I or Carter II, they are subject to the procedural bar and were properly dismissed by the district court in the habeas proceeding. We do not consider their merits.