Anthony Jacob Hersha, Petitioner and Appellant
v.
State of North Dakota, Respondent and Appellee
No. 20240270
Appeal from the District Court of Barnes County, Southeast Judicial District, the
Honorable Jay A. Schmitz, Judge.
AFFIRMED.
Per Curiam.
Kiara C. Kraus-Parr, Grand Forks, ND, for petitioner and appellant; on brief.
Tonya Duffy, State’s Attorney, Valley City, ND, for respondent and appellee; on
brief.
Hersha v. State
No. 20240270
Per Curiam.
[¶1] Anthony Hersha appeals from a district court order denying his
postconviction relief application seeking to withdraw his guilty pleas. Hersha
pleaded guilty to six counts of unauthorized use of personal identifying
information, one count of attempted unauthorized use of personal identifying
information, and four counts of attempted theft. Hersha argues the court erred
in denying his application alleging he received ineffective assistance of counsel.
After an evidentiary hearing, the court found Hersha’s testimony was not
credible. The court found Hersha had not proven his attorney’s representation
fell below an objective standard of reasonableness and there was no proof the
outcome of the proceeding would have changed had something different been
done.
[¶2] The district court has discretion in deciding whether circumstances
establish a manifest injustice, necessitating the withdrawal of a guilty plea; we
review the court’s decision for abuse of discretion. Belyeu v. State,
, 9 N.W.3d 648. Findings of fact made in a postconviction relief proceeding
are subject to the clearly erroneous standard of review. Urrabazo v. State,
, 5 N.W.3d 521. On this record, we conclude the district court’s
findings of fact are not clearly erroneous, and the court did not clearly err in
finding Hersha failed to establish his trial counsel’s performance fell below an
objective standard of reasonableness under prong one of the Strickland test.
Samaniego v. State,
, 12 N.W.3d 827 (“Courts need not address
both prongs of the Strickland test, and if a court can resolve the case by addressing
only one prong it is encouraged to do so.”). The court did not abuse its discretion
by not allowing Hersha to withdraw his guilty pleas. We summarily affirm
under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(2) and (4).
[¶3] Jon J. Jensen, C.J.
Daniel J. Crothers
1
Lisa Fair McEvers
Jerod E. Tufte
Douglas A. Bahr
2
