Middleton v. State

CROTHERS, Justice.

[¶ 1] Gerald Ray Middleton appeals from a district court order denying his application for postconviction relief. We affirm because trial counsel’s procedurally deficient motion for a new trial was not proven to prejudice Middleton.

I

[¶ 2] Middleton was found guilty by a jury of continuous sexual abuse of a child, a class AA felony, and corruption of a minor, a class C felony. After the trial, attorney Steven M. Light, now deceased, was substituted as Middleton’s new counsel. Middleton then moved for a new trial. The brief in support of Middleton’s motion stated, in its…