Aрpellant, Roderick Nunley, entered pleas of guilty to the class A felony of murder in the first degree, in violation of section 565.020, RSMo 1994, for which he was sentenced to death, and the felonies of armed criminal action, section 571.015, RSMo 1994, kidnapping, section 565.110, RSMo 1994, and forcible rape, section 566.030 RSMo 1994. Appellant appeals the denial of his motion for post-conviction relief under Rule 24.035. In
State v. Nunley,
After an indictment for first degree murder, kidnapping, forcible rape and armed criminal action, the State filed an information in lieu of indictment charging appellant with the four offеnses listed above and as a prior and persistent offender. The prosecutor informed appellant that the state would seek the death penalty even if appellant pleaded guilty to the charged offenses. Appellant pleadеd guilty to the four charged offenses without a sentencing recommendation from the state.
At his plea hearing, appellant testified that he and Michael Taylor spent the night of March 21, 1989, using drugs and stealing a car. While driving the stolen car on the morning of March 22, the twо men saw a fifteen-year-old girl, Ann Harrison, waiting for her school bus. Taylor stated that he wanted to steal the girl’s purse. Appellant stopped the car. Taylor grabbed Ann Harrison and forced her into the car. Appellant drove the car to his mother’s housе. The two men took Ann Harrison out of the ear. They forced her to crawl down to the basement. Taylor raped her. At some point, appellant gave Taylor some lubricant to facilitate the rape.
After the rape, the two men forced Ann Hаrrison into the car and tied her up. The two men decided to kill her to prevent her from identifying them. Appellant retrieved two knives from the kitchen. Both men stabbed her. The men drove the car to a nearby neighborhood and parked the car, leaving the dying girl in the trunk. Shе died of multiple stab wounds.
After a hearing, the trial judge sentenced appellant to death for the murder count and to consecutive terms of fifteen years for the kidnapping count, life for the forcible rape count and ten years for the armed сriminal action.
Appellant filed a Rule 24.035 motion for post-conviction relief. After an evidentiary hearing, the motion court denied his Rule 24.035 motion. Appellant appealed. This Court issued a summary order vacating the judgment of the trial court and remanding the cause for a new penalty hearing, imposition of sentence, and entry of new judgment.
After a second penalty hearing, the trial judge sentenced appellant to death on the murder count and consecutive terms of fifteen years on the kidnapping count and life imprisonment on each count of forcible rape and armed criminal action. Appellant filed a pro se and amended Rule 24.035 motion. The motion court overruled the motion after an evidentiary hearing. Appellant appealed.
In
State v. Nunley,
Appellate review of the motion court’s judgment on a Rule 24.035 motion is limited to a determination of whether the findings and conclusions of the motion court are clearly erroneous. Rule 24.035(j). The motion court’s findings and conclusions are clearly
Appellant urges that his sentence be vacated on the grounds thаt the decision to seek the death penalty was the product of racial discrimination by the Jackson County prosecutor’s office in violation of the Equal Protection Clause. In
State v. Taylor,
The remainder of appellant’s claims are allegations of ineffective assistance of counsel. To show that counsel’s assistance was so defective as to require reversal of a conviction or death sentence, thе movant must show that counsel’s performance was deficient and that the deficiency prejudiced the defense.
Strickland v. Washington,
Appellant сontends that counsel at the guilty plea phase was ineffective in failing to consider the options of: (1) conceding guilt at a jury trial; (2) presenting to a jury the bad acts of appellant as being less culpable as compared to Michael Taylоr’s acts; or (3) offering a jury the option of convicting appellant of murder in the second degree based on his mental state. Appellant’s claim is not properly preserved for appeal. His motion did not aver that counsel failed to advisе appellant of the above-listed jury trial strategies. Claims not presented to the motion court cannot be raised for the first time on appeal.
Amrine v. State,
Appellant’s motion did aver, however, the broader claim that plea counsel inadequatеly reviewed “the possibilities for a better result through a jury trial,” and evidence was adduced at the motion hearing with respect to that claim and the first and second strategies in appellant’s claim on appeal.
Neither the claim as averred in the motion nor the claim on appeal is supported by the evidence. The record reflects that appellant’s plea counsel undertook and conducted an extensive deliberative and investigative process before recommending to appellant that he enter a plea before the judge. Appellant has not shown and cannot show that counsel was deficient in failing to consider a jury trial conceding guilt or for failing to advise appellant of such an extraordinary risk.
Aрpellant has also failed to establish even the most remote likelihood that, but for his counsel’s failure to advise him more fully of his options at jury trial, he would have insisted on a jury trial for purposes of determining culpability, or for any other purpose.
Lockhart,
Appellant next argues that counsel at the guilty plea phase was ineffective in failing to inform appellant of his statutory right under section 565.006.2, ESMo 1994, to seek a jury trial at sentencing stage after a plea of guilty. As the motiоn court noted, this Court explicitly rejected any claim that appellant’s counsel was ineffective in failing to inform him of his statutory right to seek a jury trial at sentencing stage after a plea of guilty in
State v. Nunley,
In another allegation of. ineffective assistance, appellant contends that trial counsel was deprived of adequate funds and sufficient time to investigate and prepare appellant’s case for sentencing, thus denying appellant a full presentation of mitigating evidence. Appellant’s сlaim fails because, as the motion court noted, appellant failed to present any evidence of inadequate time or funding. Failure to present evidence at a hearing in support of factual claims in a post-conviction motion сonstitutes abandonment of that claim.
State v. Boone,
Finally, appellant contends that counsel at the guilty plea phase was ineffective in failing to challenge appellant’s competency and decision to plead guilty. This claim suffers from an infirmity identical to the preceding claim: appellant failed to adduce evidence to support the claim. He failed, therefore, to show that counsel was ineffective for failing to challenge appellant’s competency or the validity of appellant’s guilty plea.
Boone,
The judgment is affirmed.
Notes
. Appellant’s abandonment may be rooted in the fact that the record refutes appellant's claim. At the first post-conviction hearing, appellant’s plea counsel testified that the defense was given funding for all the experts that they wanted to employ. In addition, the motion court noted that appellant was able to employ the advice of at least seven experts and was able to present the testimony of two of them. As for the сlaim of inadequate time to prepare, appellant’s claim relates to the first sentencing hearing. This Court’s June 29, 1993, order vacated the 1991 judgment against appellant and remanded the cause for a new penalty hearing, sentence and judgment. This allowed counsel nearly ten months between this Court's 1993 order and the second sentencing hearing, which began on April 11, 1994, to prepare for the sentencing hearing.
. The record refutes appellant’s second abandoned claim. Both the psychiatrist and the psychologist who evaluated appellant opined that appellant understood the nature of the proceedings and would be able to assist his attorneys throughout the proceedings. One of appellant’s attorneys testified that appellant was an "active participant” in discussing the matters of his representation. Two of his attorneys testified that they were not aware of any evidence from any source that appellant was incompetent. Appellant himself testified at the guilty plea hearing that he understood the nature of the proceedings
