Court Opinion

ID: 9713288
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 05:12:49.673976+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:17.988414
License: Public Domain

DeBRULER, Justice,
concurring in result.
In Appellant Wallace’s direct appeal, by a vote of three to two, this court, upon review of the death sentence, found it to be appropriate and affirmed its imposition. Wallace v. State (1985), Ind., 486 N.E.2d 445. Justice Prentice and I voted to affirm the convictions, but set aside the sentence of death because of the failure of the sentencing court to apply crucial statutory requirements. In Wallace’s appeal from the denial of his first post-conviction petition, by a vote of three to two, this Court affirmed the trial court finding of no grounds for relief from the sentence of death. Wallace v. State (1990), Ind., 553 N.E.2d 456. Justice Dickson and I voted for a new death sentence hearing because the sentencing court had given weight to non-statutory aggravators. The 1985 and 1990 decisions of this Court are final, and the convictions and sentences may be set aside only by a grant of post-conviction relief. Though I remain convinced that positions taken in the dissenting opinions in the two prior appeals remain true and correct, they are, at this point, history.
The question on appeal at this point is whether the trial court correctly judged those seven specific grounds for post-conviction relief alleged in Wallace’s second post-conviction petition. I find (1) that the trial court was authorized to employ summary procedures in resolving the petition, (2) that the failure to precisely follow the notice requirement of Ind.Trial Rule 56(C) impinged no substantial right, (3) that the ineffective assistance of counsel claim and all remaining grounds were properly rejected on the merits or because previously adjudicated. I therefore concur in affirming the judgment of the trial court that the specific grounds relied upon in this proceeding do not warrant relief from the convictions or the sentence of death.