Sam Milligan v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.), 02A04-1602-PC-263

Background

In 1985 Sam Milligan was charged with two murders and an attempted murder arising from a domestic dispute; the State filed a death-penalty notice under Ind. Code § 35-50-2-9(b)(8).
Milligan was evaluated by court-appointed psychiatrists who concluded he was sane at the time of the offenses and competent to stand trial; at least three evaluations were in the record.
In July 1986 Milligan, represented by counsel, signed and entered guilty pleas to two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder pursuant to a plea agreement recommending consecutive prison terms totaling 170 years; the plea colloquy established he understood the charges, penalties, and that a guilty plea admitted the material facts.
Milligan filed post-conviction petitions; his initial petition was denied in 1996. He later sought and obtained permission to file a successive petition in 2000 and filed an affidavit-based successive petition; the post-conviction court denied relief in 2016.
In the successive petition Milligan asserted (1) incompetency at the plea, (2) the written plea agreement was non-existent/invalid, (3) inadequate factual basis for the plea, and (4) ineffective assistance of counsel (including failure to pursue competency hearing, failure to investigate mental health, advising acceptance of plea clause regarding a stepdaughter, and failing to challenge constitutionality of the aggravator).
The Court of Appeals affirmed: it found no bona fide doubt of competency, the plea documents and colloquy established a valid written agreement and adequate factual basis (or were precluded by res judicata), and Milligan failed to show deficient performance or prejudice for ineffective-assistance claims.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Competency to plead guilty	Milligan says suicide attempt, mental statements, and perfunctory reports created reasonable doubt and required a competency hearing	State: court implicitly found no hearing needed; counsel represented psychiatrists found him competent; plea colloquy showed coherent understanding	No error: three psychiatric evaluations + colloquy defeated a bona fide doubt; no competency hearing required
Existence/validity of written plea agreement	Milligan contends the court accepted a plea based on a non-existent written agreement	State: defendant’s motion to plead guilty and State’s notice of recommendation constitute the written agreement; plea colloquy confirmed agreement	No error: plea filings and in-court statements established the written agreement
Adequacy of factual basis for guilty plea	Milligan asserts he never admitted facts or intent; videotaped statements insufficient	State: factual-basis issue precluded by res judicata and, in any event, admission at colloquy sufficed	No error: defendant admitted material facts when informations were read; prior post-conviction resolution/waiver also bars relitigation
Ineffective assistance of counsel	Counsel failed to investigate mental history, challenge reports, seek competency hearing, explain plea consequences, and challenge statutory aggravator	State: counsel pursued psychiatric evaluations, sought neurological testing, and plea avoided death-penalty exposure; no deficient strategy or prejudice shown	No error: strong presumption counsel acted reasonably; Milligan failed to show deficiency or reasonable probability of different outcome

Key Cases Cited

Boykin v. Alabama, 395 U.S. 238 (1969) (pleas must be knowing, voluntary, and intelligent)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984) (standard for ineffective assistance of counsel)
Fisher v. State, 810 N.E.2d 674 (Ind. 2004) (post-conviction burden and appellate standard of review)
Underhill v. State, 477 N.E.2d 284 (Ind. 1985) (competency evaluations and plea acceptance without hearing)
Butler v. State, 658 N.E.2d 72 (Ind. 1995) (what constitutes an adequate factual basis for plea)
Segura v. State, 749 N.E.2d 496 (Ind. 2001) (ineffective assistance framework for guilty-plea cases)
McCormick v. State, 397 N.E.2d 276 (Ind. 1979) (limits on using an unrelated murder as an aggravator)
Conner v. State, 580 N.E.2d 214 (Ind. 1991) (prosecutorial discretion in seeking death penalty not per se arbitrary)