Opinion
No. A04-667.
Filed October 19, 2004.
Appeal from the District Court, Hennepin County, File No. 90053197.
Ron Orville Wilson, Bayport, Mn, (pro se appellant)
Mike Hatch, Attorney General, St. Paul, Mn, and Amy Klobuchar, Hennepin County Attorney, Michael Richardson, Assistant County Attorney, Minneapolis, Mn, (for respondent)
This opinion will be unpublished and may not be cited except as provided by Minn. Stat. § 480A.08, subd. 3 (2002).
UNPUBLISHED OPINION
Ron Orville Wilson appeals from the district court's denial of his petition for postconviction relief. Because the issues now raised by appellant were known at the time of his direct appeal nearly 13 years ago, the district court did not abuse its discretion by denying appellant's petition. We therefore affirm.
DECISION
We review the postconviction court's decision denying relief for abuse of discretion. Dukes v. State, 621 N.W.2d 246, 251 (Minn. 2001). We will not reverse the district court's findings of fact unless they are clearly erroneous and without evidentiary support in the record. Id.
The district court found that appellant failed to establish a factual basis for postconviction relief. In his petition and appellate brief, appellant attacked the credentials of the trial judge, prosecutor, and public defender, and challenged the validity of the enactment of the statute under which he pleaded guilty, Minn. Stat. § 609.19, subd. 1 (1990). Other than appellant's unsupported arguments, no factual basis for these claims is provided.
Further, when a direct appeal has been taken, any matter raised or claim known but not raised, will not be considered in a subsequent petition for postconviction relief. Black v. State, 560 N.W.2d 83, 85 (Minn. 1997). "[D]elay in seeking relief is a relevant consideration in determining whether that relief should be granted." Fox v. State, 474 N.W.2d 821, 826 (Minn. 1991). The issues raised by appellant in this appeal were known at the time of his direct appeal in 1991. See State v. Wilson, 1991 WL 210045 (Minn.App. 1991), review denied (Minn. Nov. 26, 1991); see also Fox, 474 N.W.2d at 824 ("Only where a claim is so novel that it can be said that its legal basis was not reasonably available at the time direct appeal was taken and decided will post-conviction relief be allowed.").
The district court did not abuse its discretion by denying appellant's petition for postconviction relief. We therefore affirm.