Court Opinion

ID: 9649271
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 14:47:16.447709+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:12:09.529486
License: Public Domain

HOLSTEIN, Judge,
concurring.
I concur fully in the Court’s decision affirming the conviction. However, my concurrence with that portion of the opinion reversing the Rule 29.15 conviction is done with some reservations. I believe there is a serious question whether the appellant has properly preserved, in his point relied on, any claim that there was a violation of Rule 29.15(e). It is not a constitutional violation, but a violation of that rule which justifies a reversal under the opinions in Luleff v. State and State v. Sanders, cited and relied on in the majority opinion.
The point relied on, upon which the Rule 29.15 judgment is reversed, states as follows:
The motion court clearly erred in denying appellant’s motion for postconviction relief because the record shows that appellant was denied a full and fair hearing on all of his claims due to ineffective assistance of appointed 29.15 motion counsel, in violation of the fifth, sixth, eighth, and fourteenth amendments to the United States Constitution and article I, sections 10, 18(a), and 21 of the Missouri Constitution, in that appointed counsel failed to file a timely amended motion and failed to ascertain if all justi-ciable allegations of error were included in the amended motion that was filed.
It is noteworthy that no claim is made in the point relied on that counsel or the trial court failed to comply with Rule 29.15(e). In the authorities under the point, no mention is made of Rule 29.15(e). The rules are reasonably clear as to what is required in a point relied on portion of a brief:
The points relied on shall state briefly and concisely what actions or rulings of the court are sought to be reviewed and wherein and why they are claimed to be erroneous, with citations of authorities thereunder.
Rule 84.04(d). In this particular case, the only violation asserted is a violation of a constitutional right. No claim is made that the rules of this Court were violated.
The United States Supreme Court recently reiterated that there is no constitutional right to counsel in a post-conviction proceeding, and the burden of an error made by an attorney in a collateral proceeding, including failing to meet time constraints under a state procedural rule, falls on the shoulders of the defendant. Coleman v. Thompson, — U.S. —, 111 S.Ct. 2546, 115 L.Ed.2d 640 (1991).
I can think of nothing that is clearer than the language of our rule requiring the preservation of claims:
Apart from questions of jurisdiction of the trial court over the subject matter and questions as to the sufficiency of pleadings to state a claim upon which relief can be granted or a legal defense to a claim, allegations of error not briefed or not properly briefed shall not be considered in any civil appeal....
Rule 84.13(a) (emphasis added). The language of that rule must be given at least as much meaning and force as the language of Rule 29.15(e).
In this case, appellant’s brief was filed before the decision in Luleff and Sanders. Only in the reply brief was Rule 29.15 relied on and Luleff and Sanders were cited. Because of the peculiar circumstances of this case, I am willing to forgive the shortcomings in appellant’s brief. In *868the future, I will not join in an opinion in which the Sanders claim is not properly preserved in a brief that complies with this Court’s rules. To require less than compliance with our rules on briefing undermines the integrity of all the rules and leads to confusion among bench, bar and the general public. The rationale behind the rule on briefing is stated in Thummel v. King, 570 S.W.2d 679, 686 (Mo. banc 1978), and need not be amplified here. It is sufficient to say that requiring a party to identify the issues to be decided is not unreasonable, but is essential to our process.
The current vogue in capital cases is to transmute virtually every claim of error into a violation of some provision of the state or federal constitution. The fact is that many, if not most, rights are granted under the grace of a rule, statute or judicial precedent. The right to counsel and counsel’s duties in a Rule 29.15 proceeding are guaranteed by the rule, not the Constitution. Failure to properly brief the point is, or at least should be, a waiver of the claim.