McPhearson v. State

Dissenting Opinion

DeBruler, J.

I vote to remand this case to the trial court with instructions to the trial judge to set aside his judgment and to hold a hearing which would afford the petitioner with an opportunity to demonstrate that there is a strong probability that evidence of past convictions had influenced the decision as to guilt or innocence. In Prophet v. State (1974), 262 Ind. 312, 315 N.E.2d 699, we first assigned this burden to persons in petitioner’s class. This petitioner’s post-conviction hearing, in which he sought a new bifurcated trial under Lawrence v. State (1972), 259…