A man serving a sentence of life in prison without parole for a 1997 murder has waited too long to renew a challenge to his convictions, according to the Arizona Court of Appeals.
Sean Alexander Bruce was in his early 20s when he took part in an armed robbery at a party in Pima County on Nov. 8, 1997 during which Keven Coley was shot and killed. A jury convicted him of first-degree murder and multiple counts of robbery in connection to the incident.
Bruce had his convictions and sentences affirmed by the Arizona Court of Appeals in 2002 after he filed a direct appeal. He then filed a petition for post-conviction relief with the Pima County trial court, but that was denied in 2006.
Then in March 2020, Bruce filed a second petition for post-conviction relief, arguing to a Pima County judge that “no reasonable jury” could have found him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. He also claimed he received ineffective assistance of counsel, and that his sentences were “illegal” and “unduly harsh.”
But Bruce’s petition, filed more than two decades after Coley’s death, was denied without further hearing. The issue, according to the trial court, is that such subsequent petitions must be filed within a reasonable time after a defendant discovers a basis for a claim.
A detailed explanation as to why the current claims and issues were not raised in the first petition is also required, something Bruce did not do.
“If a defendant does not provide ‘sufficient reasons’ why a claim had not been raised previously, a trial court may summarily dismiss the proceeding,” Judge Peter Eckerstrom wrote in the appellate panel’s Dec. 8 decision.
Eckerstrom further noted that Bruce was aware of a possible claim back in 2017 and knew in early 2018 that the conviction integrity unit of the Pima County Attorney’s Office was not going to assist in reopening the case. A post-conviction relief effort by Bruce might have had a better chance back then of being considered.
“We grant review but deny relief,” the appellate decision noted.
Bruce has until early January to file a petition for review to the Arizona Supreme Court in hopes of obtaining a court order requiring a Pima County judge to consider his petition.
A co-defendant, John Jewitt Jr. was convicted in 1998 of armed robbery and murder. He was later sentenced to life with the possibility of parole after 35 years.
