Myon Demarlo Burrell v. State of Minnesota, 858 N.W.2d 779

Background

Burrell was convicted of premeditated first-degree murder and related counts for the 2002 shootings; on direct appeal, convictions were affirmed after remand for sentencing corrections.
In postconviction relief Burrell sought new trial based on newly discovered evidence, witness recantations, ineffective assistance, and police misconduct.
Key potential witnesses included Rita Brown, Terry Arrington, Anthony Collins, and Hans Williams; Brown and Collins declined to testify, Arrington was in federal custody, and none of the witnesses, except Williams, appeared as scheduled.
The postconviction court held multiple evidentiary hearings and continuances to secure witnesses, denied some motions, and ultimately denied the postconviction petition.
The court refused to compel appearance of Brown at the January 31, 2013 hearing and later declined to issue bench warrants due to service issues, leading to Burrell’s appeal.
Because of a remand in Burrell II, sentencing errors were identified and remanded for resentencing consistent with prior decisions.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the postconviction court abused its discretion denying witness attendance	Burrell contends the court should compel Brown's appearance	State argues discretion lies with the court and Brown's nonappearance was not a contempt due to service issues	No abuse; court properly declined to compel appearance
Whether Brown's testimony would have been material and favorable	Burrell asserts Sixth Amendment compulsory process rights apply to postconviction review	State contends, and court agrees, that Brown's hearsay affidavits lack reliability and materiality	No violation; Brown's testimony not shown to be material or favorable
Whether Williams’ evidence could be admitted as newly discovered evidence	Burrell seeks Williams’ testimony as new evidence to obtain a more favorable result	State notes Williams’ testimony was known and cumulative	Denied; Williams’ testimony would be cumulative and insufficient for a new trial
Whether the court erred in denying Burrell’s request to compel Arrington’s transport from federal custody	Burrell argues the court should compel appearance or transport	State notes lack of authority to compel federal-custody witness and Burrell failed to request assistance earlier	No error; court lacked authority and Burrell did not secure federal assistance
Whether Burrell's trial counsel was ineffective for failing to hire a private investigator	Burrell claims ineffective assistance for not investigating with a private investigator	State argues claim was not properly raised or proven in petition	Forfeited on appeal; not considered

Key Cases Cited

Burrell v. State, 772 N.W.2d 459, 772 N.W.2d 459 (Minn. 2009) (remand for sentencing guidance and Holmes compliance)
State v. Hurd, 763 N.W.2d 17 (Minn. 2009) (abuse-of-discretion standard for postconviction new-trial motions)
State v. Mohs, 743 N.W.2d 607 (Minn. 2008) (court may compel witness attendance; bench warrants discretion)
Ferguson v. State, 742 N.W.2d 651 (Minn. 2007) (reliability of third-party affidavits; recantation considerations)
United States v. Valenzuela-Bernal, 458 U.S. 858 (1982) (materiality and usefulness of witness testimony in compulsory-process analysis)
Miles v. State, 800 N.W.2d 778 (Minn. 2011) (recantation and newly discovered evidence; sworn statements importance)
Rainer v. State, 566 N.W.2d 692 (Minn. 1997) (Rainer factors for newly discovered evidence standard)
State v. Holmes, 281 Minn. 294 (1968) (rule against longer sentence on retrial under Holmes doctrine)
Tarble's Case, 80 U.S. (13 Wall.) 397 (1871) (federal-state separation in witness-compulsion proceedings)
Coleman v. Balkcom, 451 U.S. 949 (1981) (dissent on habeas corpus and compulsory-process considerations)
Robinson v. State, 567 N.W.2d 491 (Minn. 1997) (forfeiture of issues raised for first time on appeal)