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STATE OF MINNESOTA IN SUPREME COURT A08-1596

Hennepin County

Dietzen, J.

Pierre Lamont Leake, petitioner, Appellant, vs. State of Minnesota, Respondent. ________________________ Lawrence Hammerling, Chief Appellate Public Defender, Mark D. Nyvold, Special Assistant Public Defender, St. Paul, Minnesota, for appellant. Lori Swanson, Attorney General, St. Paul, Minnesota; and Michael O. Freeman, Hennepin County Attorney, Michael K. Walz, Assistant County Attorney, Minneapolis, Minnesota, for respondent. _______________________ SYLLABUS 1. To satisfy the prejudice prong of an ineffective assistance of counsel claim Filed: June 18, 2009 Office of Appellate Courts

involving a rejected plea agreement, the appellant must establish that there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsels unprofessional error, the appellant would have accepted the plea agreement.

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The postconviction court did not abuse its discretion in finding that there

was no reasonable probability that appellant would have accepted the plea agreement, and therefore appellant failed to establish ineffective assistance of trial counsel. As a result, the court did not err in denying appellants petition for postconviction relief. Affirmed. Considered and decided by the court without oral argument. OPINION DIETZEN, Justice. On September 22, 2003, a jury found appellant Pierre Lamont Leake guilty of first-degree premeditated murder and he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of release.1 On direct appeal, we affirmed Leakes conviction and sentence. State v. Leake (Leake I), 699 N.W.2d 312, 328 (Minn. 2005). Subsequently, Leake filed a pro se postconviction petition that was summarily denied. On appeal, we affirmed the postconviction courts decision in part, but reversed and remanded for an evidentiary hearing to determine whether Leakes appellate counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to bring the ineffective assistance of trial counsel claim on direct appeal. Leake v. State (Leake II), 737 N.W.2d 531, 543 (Minn. 2007). After an evidentiary hearing, the postconviction court denied relief and Leake appealed. We affirm.

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Hereinafter, a life sentence without the possibility of release will be referred to as life without parole.

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Leake was charged with and indicted for first-degree premeditated murder under Minn. Stat.

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