Appeals court upholds rulings in lewd case

SANDPOINT — The Idaho Court of Appeals is declining to grant post-conviction relief to a Bonner County man serving concurrent life sentences for lewd and lascivious conduct.

Curtis Edward Jackson argued he received ineffective assistance from counsel during his 1st District Court trial on allegations that he molested a 9-year-old girl on several occasions in Careywood in 2009.

Jackson presented three claims of ineffective assistance during post-conviction proceedings, but district Judge Jeff Brudie found that the allegations were conclusory and unsupported by the record. Jackson appealed, arguing his claims were supported by evidence sufficient to support a prima facie case for each claim.

Jackson argued his defense counsel failed to conduct an adequate investigation, failed to move for a change of venue and failed to object to the trial court’s denial of a motion to dismiss a juror for cause.

However, the appeals court ruled that the only evidence to support the inadequate investigation claim was conclusory statements Jackson made that his attorney was negative and unresponsive to his inquiries, and failed to probe evidence that the alleged victim was coerced into making statements against him.

“Because these conclusory statements are the only evidence provided, we are unable to hold that the district court erred in determining that the record was devoid of evidence supporting Jackson’s claim of ineffective assistance of counsel for failure to investigate,” appellate Judge Sergio Gutierrez said in an unpublished opinion released on June 8.

Jackson argued that his attorney failed to protect him from a tainted jury despite knowing that he wanted a change of venue and that news articles made improper statements about prior uncharged bad acts. But the appeals court held that Jackson failed to make a prima facie case that the decision not to move for a change of venue constituted deficient performance rather than a tactical move. A lack of new evidence also hindered Jackson’s claim that a juror should have been dismissed.

“Due to the dearth of evidence provided, Jackson has failed to plead a prima facie case of ineffective assistance of counsel regarding counsel’s alleged failure to investigate and failure to move for a change of venue,” Gutierrez wrote.

Jackson, 55, is imprisoned at the Idaho Correctional Institution in Orofino, according to the Idaho Department of Correction. He becomes eligible for parole in 2026, according to IDOC’s website.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.