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STATE OF MINNESOTA IN SUPREME COURT A08-0777

Court of Appeals

Gildea, J. Dissenting, Anderson, Paul H., Page, and Meyer, JJ. Dissenting, Meyer, Page, and Anderson, Paul H., JJ.

State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Jason Finnegan, petitioner, Appellant. ________________________ Lori Swanson, Attorney General, John B. Galus, Assistant Attorney General, St. Paul, Minnesota; and David J. Hauser, Otter Tail County Attorney, Fergus Falls, Minnesota, for respondent. David W. Merchant, Chief Appellate Public Defender, Leslie J. Rosenberg, Assistant State Public Defender, St. Paul, Minnesota, for appellant. ________________________ Filed: June 30, 2010 Office of Appellate Courts

SYLLABUS Because appellant did not meet his burden to prove that his absence from trial was involuntary and justified, the district court properly denied appellant`s petition for postconviction relief. Affirmed. 1

OPINION GILDEA, Justice. This case is before us on review of the district court`s denial of appellant Jason Finnegan`s petition for postconviction relief. Finnegan contended in his petition that he was entitled to a new trial because a portion of his first trial was conducted in his absence. The postconviction court denied the petition, and the court of appeals affirmed. Because we conclude that Finnegan did not meet his burden to show that he was involuntarily absent, we affirm. An Otter Tail County jury found Finnegan guilty of one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct in violation of Minn. Stat.

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Minnesota Law