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Court Error – Postconviction Motion Denied

By: Derek Hawkins//December 5, 2017//

Court Error – Postconviction Motion Denied

By: Derek Hawkins//December 5, 2017//

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7th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: David Mark Frentz v. Richard Brown

Case No.: 15-3479

Officials: KANNE and SYKES, Circuit Judges, and DARROW, District Judge.

Focus: Court Error – Postconviction Motion Denied

David Frentz filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 after the Court of Appeals of Indiana affirmed the denial of his petition for postconviction relief in state court. That petition attacked Frentz’s conviction for the January 24, 2005 murder of his housemate, Zackary Reynolds. Before his trial on that charge, Frentz had filed a notice that he would pursue a defense of not guilty by reason of insanity, but, after consulting with an expert, did not pursue the defense. Frentz was convicted by a jury of the murder, and of associated drug charges, and sentenced to 59 years of imprisonment. He appealed to the Court of Appeals of Indiana, which affirmed. He then filed his postconviction petition in Indiana court alleging ineffective assistance of counsel for, among other things, not having pursued the insanity defense. His petition was denied, and he appealed to the Court of Appeals of Indiana, which affirmed the denial.

The Indiana Supreme Court denied transfer of the case, and Frentz filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the Southern District of Indiana. The district court denied the petition, and declined to issue a certificate of appealability. This Court then granted the certificate, finding that Frentz had made a substantial showing of the denial of his right to effective assistance of counsel because counsel failed to pursue an insanity defense. Because the Indiana appellate court did not unreasonably apply federal law in denying Frentz’s postconviction petition, we now affirm the district court’s decision.

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.

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