State v. Martinez, 302 Neb. 526

Background

Defendant Larry G. Martinez was convicted by a jury of first degree murder and use of a firearm; convictions and sentences were affirmed on direct appeal.
Facts at trial: Martinez went to the victim’s house after an argument, was heard saying “this is for you, bitch” before a single fatal gunshot, admitted to shooting the victim during a police interview, and told a roommate he planned to kill her and later that he shot her; gun found at his residence.
Pretrial motion to suppress Martinez’s statements was denied; district court found statements voluntary and Martinez not “deaf or hard of hearing” under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 20-152.
After trial, a competency-to-be-sentenced hearing produced two defense experts finding Martinez incompetent (one citing extremely low IQ) and one defense-expert/State witness finding competency; district court found Martinez competent and imposed life plus additional term.
Martinez filed a postconviction motion alleging ineffective assistance of trial counsel for failing to (1) use his mental capacity to argue his custodial statements were involuntary and (2) use his mental capacity to negate premeditation, deliberation, and intent for first degree murder; the district court denied relief without an evidentiary hearing and Martinez appealed.

Issues

Issue	Martinez's Argument	State's Argument	Held
Counsel ineffective for not using mental-capacity evidence to suppress statements as involuntary	Counsel should have presented evidence of Martinez’s low IQ/incompetence to show his statements were involuntary and require suppression	Interview video and record show no coercive police conduct; voluntariness focuses on government coercion, not only defendant capacity	Denied — absence of coercive police conduct means mental-capacity emphasis could not render statements involuntary; no deficient-strategy prejudice shown
Counsel ineffective for not using mental-capacity evidence to negate premeditation/deliberation/intent for 1st-degree murder	Counsel should have investigated and presented cognitive impairment evidence to show Martinez could not form requisite intent	Trial evidence (threats, admissions, statements before shooting, deliberate conduct, hiding gun) showed intent and premeditation; any added evidence unlikely to change outcome	Denied — substantial evidence of deliberation/premeditation/intent; no reasonable probability of different result even if mental-capacity evidence had been introduced
Waiver of ineffective-assistance claims by failing to raise them on direct appeal	Martinez argued claims were properly raised in postconviction because same counsel represented him at trial and on direct appeal, so direct appeal was not the first opportunity	State argued claims could have been litigated earlier	Held Martinez did not waive claims; postconviction was proper forum because counsel on appeal was same as at trial
Requirement for evidentiary hearing on postconviction motion	Martinez contended factual allegations warranted an evidentiary hearing	State argued records and files showed no entitlement to relief, so no hearing required	Held no evidentiary hearing required because motion alleged no facts that, if proved, would create reasonable probability of different outcome

Key Cases Cited

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984) (two-prong ineffective assistance test: deficient performance and prejudice)
Jackson v. Denno, 378 U.S. 368 (1964) (inadmissibility of involuntary confessions)
State v. Martinez, 295 Neb. 1 (2016) (direct-appeal opinion affirming convictions and competency rulings)
State v. Tyler, 301 Neb. 365 (2018) (standard of review for postconviction denials without evidentiary hearing)
State v. Taylor, 300 Neb. 629 (2018) (postconviction and Strickland standards summarized)
State v. Hernandez, 299 Neb. 896 (2018) (coercive police activity is required predicate for involuntariness findings)
State v. Braesch, 292 Neb. 930 (preparation on premeditation and deliberation elements of first-degree murder)
State v. Urbano, 256 Neb. 194 (diminished capacity evidence may be used to negate ability to form intent)
State v. Lyle, 258 Neb. 263 (records-and-files review may support denial of postconviction relief without hearing)