David Ntoto Mbulu v. State of North Dakota

Williston, North Dakota criminal defense lawyer represented the Plaintiff in an application for postconviction relief action.

David Ntolo Mbulu filed an application for postconviction relief. Mbulu argues the following: (1) the availability of a co-defendant to testify is newly discovered evidence; (2) the court erred in questioning the veracity of the affidavit of a co-defendant; (3) his postconviction counsel provided ineffective representation; (4) the court prematurely issued a final judgment; and (5) his trial counsel failed to investigate a possible witness. In Mbulu v. State, 2022 ND 138, 977 N.W.2d 305, we remanded for an evidentiary hearing on a single issue, the resolution of an ineffective assistance of counsel claim related to Mbulu's co-defendant being called as a defense witness at trial, and we are limited by the law of the case doctrine. See Pennington v. Cont'l Res., Inc., 2021 ND 105, ¶ 9, 961 N.W.2d 264 ("The law of the case doctrine applies when an appellate court has decided a legal question and remanded to the district court for further proceedings, and a party cannot on a second appeal relitigate issues which were resolved by the Court in the first appeal or which would have been resolved had they been properly presented in the first appeal." (cleaned up)). On remand, the district court denied the ineffective assistance of counsel claim finding the decision not to call Mbulu's co-defendant was an appropriate trial strategy in light of the co-defendant's lack of credibility and potential admission of significant negative information regarding Mbulu.



Mbulu v. State, 2024 ND 205, 20240036 (N.D. Nov 08, 2024)

Affirmed