Durdines

When a defendant seeks to invalidate his conviction by claiming that his trial attorney failed to preserve an allegedly crucial objection, does the superior court have the power to order the trial attorney to explain his action or inaction, either in person or by declaration, before the issuance of the writ of habeas corpus? No. Accordingly, we grant the petition.

Defendant William Craig Davis was convicted of first degree murder in 1995. On October 30, 1998, he filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus based on the allegedly ineffective assistance rendered by trial counsel David Durdines. Specifically, defendant asserted that Durdines failed to preserve a potentially successful Miranda claim by failing to make appropriate objections and/or motions in the trial court.

Without issuing the writ of habeas corpus, the trial court instead issued an order directing Durdines to file a declaration setting forth his position on the issues raised by the petition. Durdines refused to do so, and when he appeared in court to explain his refusal the court again ordered him to prepare a declaration. Durdines filed a petition for writ of prohibition with this' court, which we…