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STATE OF MINNESOTA IN SUPREME COURT A08-1782

Crow Wing County

Dietzen, J. Concurring in part and dissenting in part, Anderson, Paul H., Meyer, and Anderson, G. Barry, JJ.

David James Doppler, petitioner, Appellant, vs. State of Minnesota, Respondent. ________________________ Deborah Ellis, St. Paul, Minnesota, for appellant. Lori Swanson, Attorney General, St. Paul, Minnesota; and Donald F. Ryan, Crow Wing County Attorney, Brainerd, Minnesota, for respondent. ________________________ SYLLABUS 1. The postconviction court did not abuse its discretion by denying in part Filed: September 10, 2009 Office of Appellate Courts

appellants request for an evidentiary hearing on the grounds that the affidavit evidence proffered by appellant in support of his request did not constitute newly-discovered evidence and that the related claims were procedurally barred.

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The postconviction court did not abuse its discretion in denying appellants

request for relief on the ground that appellant failed to present newly-discovered evidence that was material and not doubtful. Affirmed. Considered and decided by the court without oral argument. OPINION DIETZEN, Justice. In June 1996, appellant David Doppler was found guilty of first-degree premeditated murder for the shooting death of Michael L. Sargent. Appellant filed a direct appeal and requested that the case be remanded to consider his postconviction petition that his trial counsel was ineffective. Following an evidentiary hearing, the district court denied the petition. On appeal, we affirmed the conviction and the denial of the postconviction petition. State v. Doppler (Doppler I), 590 N.W.2d 627, 629 (Minn. 1999). In March 2001, appellant filed a second petition alleging ineffective assistance of appellate counsel. The postconviction court denied appellants petition, concluding that his claim was procedurally barred. We affirmed. Doppler v. State (Doppler II), 660 N.W.2d 797, 803-04 (Minn. 2003). In August 2007, appellant filed a third petition for postconviction relief alleging newly-discovered evidence and other claims. Following an evidentiary hearing, the postconviction court denied the petition for postconviction relief. This appeal followed. We affirm. The facts underlying appellants conviction are set forth in detail in Doppler I, 590 N.W.2d at 629-32. Briefly, Sargents body was found in April 1995 near an access road 2

to Little Blackhoof Lake in Crow Wing County. Sargents body had sustained f our gunshot wounds--one to the right leg, one to the chin, and two to the head. An extensive investigation led the police to appellant. During an interview with agents from the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), appellant confessed to shooting Sargent. Appellant reiterated his confession at trial and added some additional detail, testifying that he had shot Sargent after Sargent came at him with a knife. Also testifying at trial were Keith Doppler (appellants brother) and Richard Berry (appellants uncle). They were present when Sargent was killed and corroborated appellants version of the shooting. Subsequently, a jury convicted appellant of premeditated first-degree murder in violation of Minn. Stat.

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