Archuleta v. Galetka

Archuleta v. Galetka, No. 960533, Filed June 26, 1998. This opinion is subject to revision before final publication in the Pacific Reporter.   IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF UTAH   ----oo0oo----   Michael Anthony Archuleta, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. Hank Galetka, Warden, Utah State Prison, Defendant and Appellee. No. 960533 Filed June 26, 1998 ---  

Fourth District, Millard Dep't

The Honorable Lynn W. Davis

Attorneys: M. David Eckersley, Salt Lake City, and Karen A.

Chaney, Colorado Springs, Colorado, for plaintiff

Jan Graham, Att'y Gen., Kris C. Leonard, Asst. Att'y

Gen., Salt Lake City, for defendant ---  

STEWART, Justice:

Plaintiff Michael Anthony Archuleta was convicted of aggravated murder and sentenced to death. We affirmed the conviction and sentence in State v. Archuleta, 850 P.2d 1232, 1248 (Utah 1993). Thereafter, Archuleta filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the district court, challenging his conviction on the ground that he had been denied his Sixth Amendment constitutional right to the effective assistance of counsel both at the trial of his case and on the appeal of the conviction. The petition alleged that the ineffective assistance of counsel at trial and on appeal was legally prejudicial. In the habeas proceeding, the district court dismissed the petition on the ground that the claims asserted by Archuleta were procedurally barred because they could have been raised on direct appeal and were not.

The district court erred in ruling that the petition for a writ of habeas corpus, which was based on the allegation of ineffective assistance of counsel at trial and on appeal, was barred. See Dunn v. Cook, 791 P.2d 873, 878-79 (Utah 1990); see also Parsons v. Barnes, 871 P.2d 516, 521 (Utah 1994); Fernandez v. Cook, 783 P.2d 547, 549-50 (Utah 1989).

Reversed and remanded for further proceedings. ---  

Chief Justice Howe, Associate Chief Justice Durham, Justice Zimmerman, and Justice Russon concur in Justice Stewart's opinion.