Court Opinion

ID: 9796107
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 03:48:53.116844+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:49:01.251786
License: Public Domain

WINFREE, Justice,
dissenting.
In my view the only improvident grants in this post-conviction relief case were (1) the superior court's original grant of summary judgment in favor of the defendant, Kevin Pease, and (2) the court of appeals' opposite grant of its own form of summary judgment in favor of the State of Alaska.
The disposition of this petition should center on whether the superior court or the court of appeals could have summarily granted judgment to one of the parties on the record before us. The superior court: (1) considered undisputed but inconsistent juror deposition testimony about what the jurors did and why they did it; (2) contrary to relevant rules of summary judgment, which require all reasonable inferences be drawn in favor of the non-moving party (here, the State), drew reasonable inferences from the juror deposition testimony in favor of Pease; and (8) ruled as a matter of law in favor of Pease. The court of appeals: (1) considered that same evidence; (2) correctly drew reasonable inferences in favor of the State in reviewing the grant of summary judgment in favor of Pease; but (38) instead of simply reversing the superior court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Pease, ruled as a matter of law in favor of the State, ignoring the reasonable inferences to be drawn in favor of Pease.
Given the competing reasonable inferences arising from the juror testimony, neither party was entitled to summary disposition of this case. Neither the superior court nor the court of appeals could have reached its conclusion without having engaged in some fact-finding, but no evidentiary hearing has yet been held. I would reverse the decision of the court of appeals and remand with instructions that the superior court hold the originally ordered, but never held, full evi-dentiary hearing on Pease's claim for post-conviction relief. After that evidentiary hearing, if the superior court's findings of fact and conclusions of law ultimately mirror the result that the superior court had previously reached on summary judgment, I would agree with Justice Eastaugh's view of this case.