S-15-0139 State v. Christopher Edwards (Appellant)
Douglas County District Court, Judge Russell Derr
Attorneys: Brian Munnellt & Jerry L. Soucie (Appellant) --- James D. Smith (Attorney General's Office)
Civil: Postconviction
Proceedings below: The district court denied Appellant leave to amend an amended postconviction motion and denied postconviction relief.
Issues: A) The district court erred in refusing leave to amend the first postconviction motion when Appellant had originally been denied permission to conduct discovery, but learned of additional facts in support of relief while the appeal in Edwards II was pending. B) The district court erred in interpreting the mandate in Edwards I to be strictly limited to whether there was an actual conflict of interest solely during the trial of Appellant and not during the period of Atty Lefler's concurrent representation of both Appellant and KOFOED (May/June 2008 to July 28, 2009). C) The district court erred in failing to find that Atty Lefler had an actual conflict of interest in violation of the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States
Constitution as a result of l) the long standing personal friendship between Atty
Lefler as stated by Atty Lefler and sworn to by KOFOED, and 2) Atty Lefler's concurrent legal representation of KOFOED beginning in May/June 2008 against allegations of fabrication of evidence in a DoCoSO IA investigation, state and federal criminal prosecutions, and federal civil rights litigation while Atty Lefler was still representing Appellant on direct appeal. D. The district court erred in l) making erroneous findings of fact from its review of photographs that were contrary to the sworn testimony of witnesses, 2) applying an incorrect legal standard, and 3) failing to find that Appellant established by a preponderance of the evidence that KOFOED was a state agent who fabricated blood evidence and his original trial testimony in violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.