State of West Virginia ex rel. Gary Mullins v. Jim Rubenstein, Commissioner, West Virginia Division of Corrections

Summary

The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia affirmed the denial of Gary Mullins’s amended petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The court held that claims previously adjudicated on direct appeal were not reviewable in habeas proceedings and that Mullins failed to establish ineffective assistance of trial counsel under the Strickland/Miller standard.

Holdings

1. Claims that were fully and finally adjudicated in the petitioner's criminal trial and direct appeal are not reviewable again in a post-conviction habeas proceeding.
2. Counsel's decisions not to pursue unavailable surveillance footage, seek out other shoppers, or call the bank employee and petitioner's sister were not deficient under the objective standard of reasonableness.
3. Counsel's decision not to cross-examine the elderly victim about an alleged discrepancy in whether Mullins entered the victim's home was not objectively deficient.
4. Arguments mentioned only in passing and unsupported by pertinent authority or developed factual and legal analysis are deemed abandoned and will not be considered on appeal.

Questions Presented

1. Whether claims previously raised and finally adjudicated on direct appeal could be relitigated in a post-conviction habeas proceeding.
2. Whether trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance by failing to investigate evidence, call witnesses, cross-examine the victim concerning an alleged inconsistency, and undertake other asserted trial and post-trial actions.
3. Whether inadequately developed arguments concerning additional alleged instances of ineffective assistance should be considered on appeal.

Disposition

affirmed