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STATE OF MINNESOTA IN SUPREME COURT A09-1872

Anoka County

Anderson, Paul H., J. Took no part, Stras, J.

Demetrius Devell Dobbins, petitioner, Appellant, vs. State of Minnesota, Respondent. ________________________ Demetrius Devell Dobbins, Rush City, Minnesota, pro se. Lori Swanson, Attorney General, St. Paul, Minnesota; and Robert M.A. Johnson, Anoka County Attorney, Marcy S. Crain, Assistant Anoka County Attorney, Anoka, Minnesota, for respondent. ________________________ SYLLABUS Petitioner's claim that he was improperly convicted of aiding and abetting is Knaffla-barred because Petitioner knew the nature of his conviction at the time of his direct appeal. Petitioner's claim that the Minnesota Supreme Court violated his equal protection rights by affirming his conviction did not arise until his direct appeal was complete and therefore the postconviction court abused its discretion in concluding that petitioner's Filed: September 16, 2010 Office of Appellate Courts

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equal protection claim is Knaffla-barred; nevertheless, petitioner is not entitled to relief because his claim lacks merit. When the record conclusively shows that petitioner's appellate counsel was not ineffective, the postconviction court did not abuse its discretion in denying petitioner an evidentiary hearing on the ground of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel. The postconviction court abused its discretion when it denied petitioner an evidentiary hearing regarding his false testimony claim when the record does not conclusively show petitioner is not entitled to relief on the ground of evidence of false testimony. Reversed in part and remanded. OPINION ANDERSON, Paul H., Justice. An Anoka County jury found Demetrius Devell Dobbins guilty of first-degree premeditated murder for the death of Quintin Roderick Lavender. We affirmed

Dobbins's conviction on direct appeal in 2006. In 2009 Dobbins filed a petition for postconviction relief and the postconviction court denied the petition. Dobbins now appeals the denial of his petition, arguing that he is entitled to postconviction relief because (1) he received ineffective assistance of appellate counsel; (2) the State claimed that he killed Lavender, yet he was charged with and convicted of aiding and abetting a crime; (3) newly discovered evidence establishes a witness testified falsely; and (4) his right to equal protection of the law under the Fourteenth Amendment was violated when

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our court did not reverse his conviction on the ground of prosecutorial misconduct. We reverse in part and remand to the district court for an evidentiary hearing. Petitioner Demetrius Devell Dobbins was charged with causing the death of Quintin Roderick Lavender at the home of Dobbins's girlfriend, C.S. State v. Dobbins, 725 N.W.2d 492, 498 (Minn. 2006). A jury found Dobbins guilty of first-degree

premeditated murder and the Anoka County District Court convicted him of that offense and sentenced him to life in prison. Id. at 500. We affirmed the conviction. Id. at 513. The facts surrounding Lavender's death are thoroughly set forth in Dobbins and are recounted here only insofar as they are relevant to this postconviction appeal. On December 5, 2003, a citizen made a 911 call to report that a homicide had taken place at C.S.'s home. Id. at 497. The caller later described to a police officer the two men she believed were involved in the homicide and informed the officer that the men were returning to the home where the homicide took place. Id. After this

conversation, the police went to the home and saw Dobbins and Myshohn King walking toward the home carrying lighter fluid. Id. Dobbins and King fit the description given by the 911 caller, so the police approached and arrested both men. Id. Dobbins was searched following his arrest. As a result of the search the police ascertained that Dobbins's hands and clothing had gunshot residue on them, and later DNA testing revealed that the pants, shoes, and socks he was wearing at the time of his arrest had some of Lavender's blood on them. Id. On January 6, 2004, the Anoka County grand jury indicted Dobbins for first-degree premeditated murder in violation of Minn. Stat.

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