Opinion ID: 1700511
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: Failure to Object to Joint Trial

Text: Ryan contends in issue 13 that his trial counsel failed to adequately advise him of the consequences of a joint trial with his son, who had also been charged with first degree murder in the death of Thimm. Ryan claims that the consolidation was prejudicial to his defense, because his son's trial counsel blamed everything on Ryan. In Ryan's direct appeal, he claimed that he was prejudiced by the trial court's failure to sustain his motion to sever his case from his son's case. See Ryan I. At that time, we held that Ryan had failed to show that he was prejudiced by the joinder of his trial with the trial of his son. Id. Although Ryan now frames this issue as one of ineffective assistance of counsel, we nevertheless continue to adhere to our holding in Ryan I. Because we have already determined that Ryan was not prejudiced by having a joint trial, he cannot have suffered any prejudice from trial counsel's allegedly deficient advice on this issue, and we need not address whether such performance was in fact deficient. See Strickland v. Washington, supra . Moreover, in this state, from a procedural standpoint, a motion for postconviction relief cannot be used to secure review of issues which were or could have been litigated on direct appeal, no matter how those issues may be phrased or rephrased. State v. Nielsen, supra ; State v. Stewart, 242 Neb. 712, 496 N.W.2d 524 (1993), cert. denied ___ U.S. ___, 114 S.Ct. 97, 126 L.Ed.2d 64. Ryan is not entitled to postconviction relief on issue 13.