Source: https://openjurist.org/216/f3d/1126/united-states-of-america-v-dennis-l-mitchell
Timestamp: 2018-06-24 17:00:06
Document Index: 501158454

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 846', '§ 2253', '§ 2255', '§ 2253', '§ 2253', '§ 2253', '§ 2253']

216 F3d 1126 United States of America, v. Dennis L. Mitchell, | OpenJurist
216 F. 3d 1126 - United States of America, v. Dennis L. Mitchell,
216 F3d 1126 United States of America, v. Dennis L. Mitchell,
216 F.3d 1126 (D.C. Cir. 2000)
Dennis L. Mitchell, Appellant
No. 99-3035
In 1993, Mitchell and a co-defendant were convicted of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(A)(ii), 841(b)(1)(A)(iii). Mitchell was sentenced to 324 months of incarceration. We affirmed the convictions, but vacated Mitchell's sentence for consideration of a downward adjustment for his role in the offense. See United States v. Mitchell, 49 F.3d 769 (D.C. Cir. 1995). On remand, the district court resentenced Mitchell to 151 months, and we affirmed in an unpublished order. See United States v. Mitchell, 107 F.3d 923 (D.C. Cir. 1997) (table).
The district court denied the motion. Mitchell filed a notice of appeal without first seeking a certificate of appealability as required by 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1) (Supp. IV 1998).We appointed counsel for Mitchell, and directed the parties, while not otherwise limited, to address the following questions: (1) whether a COA may be issued by this court in the first instance or instead must initially be sought from the district court; and (2) whether appellant has "made a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right" required for the grant of a COA.
A. Who Decides
The requirement that a defendant seek a COA to appeal the denial of a § 2255 petition stems from 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1), which states in relevant part:
As a threshold matter, 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1) does not clearly state that district court judges are empowered to issue COAs--it simply says "circuit justice or judge." However, Rule 22(b) contemplates that "judge" means district judge, and all the circuits addressing the issue have held that district court judges have the power to issue COAs. We join these circuits. See Hunter v. United States, 101 F.3d 1565, 1573-83 (11th Cir. 1996) (en banc) (containing a detailed discussion of the issue), overruled in part on other grounds by Lindh v. Murphy, 521 U.S. 320 (1997); see also GrantChase v. Commissioner, New Hampshire Dep't of Corrections, 145 F.3d 431, 435 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 525 U.S. 941 (1998); Lozada v. United States, 107 F.3d 1011, 1015-17 (2d Cir. 1997), overruled on other grounds by United States v. Perez, 129 F.3d 255 (2d Cir. 1997); United States v. Eyer, 113 F.3d 470, 472-74 (3d Cir. 1997); Else v. Johnson, 104 F.3d 82, 82-83 (5th Cir. 1997); Lyons v. Ohio Adult Parole Auth., 105 F.3d 1063, 1073 (6th Cir. 1997), overruled in part on other grounds by Lindh v. Murphy, 521 U.S. 320 (1997); Tiedeman v. Benson, 122 F.3d 518, 522 (8th Cir. 1997); United States v. Asrar, 116 F.3d 1268, 1269-70 (9th Cir. 1997); United States v. Riddick, 104 F.3d 1239, 1240-41 (10th Cir. 1997), overruled on other grounds by United States v. Kunzman, 125 F.3d 1363 (10th Cir. 1997).
Rule 22(b)(2) provides that when an appellant fails to file an express request for a COA with the court of appeals, the notice of appeal constitutes such a request to the judges of the court of appeals. Normally, we will examine such requests after the district court has ruled, see Edwards v. United States, 114 F.3d 1083, 1084 (11th Cir. 1997), and we will generally transfer COA requests to the district court when the district court has not ruled. However, any defect in procedure occasioned by the appellant's failure to make application in this case is not jurisdictional, given the language of 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1), and Rule 22(b)(2). Therefore, in view of the late stage in the proceedings at which we came to confront the question, we will proceed to consider whether to grant the COA ourselves. Insofar as the failure of the appellant to make application to the district court creates any obstacle, we note that under Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 2, we have the authority to "suspend any provision of" the Rules of Appellate Procedure, including Rule 22(b)(1) except in limited instances not here relevant. We therefore exercise that authority and proceed.
B. Merits of COA Request
To determine whether Mitchell should receive a COA to pursue his appeal, we ask whether he "has made a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right." 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2). "[T]he petitioner need not show that he should prevail on the merits.... Rather, he must demonstrate that the issues are debatable among jurists of reason; that a court could resolve the issues [in a different manner]; or that the questions are adequate to deserve encouragement to proceed further." Barefoot v. Estelle, 463 U.S. 880, 893 n.4 (1983) (internal quotation marks omitted); see also Byrd v. Henderson, 119 F.3d 34, 36 n.3 (D.C. Cir. 1997) (holding that Barefoot standard applies to COA requests). Under this standard, we grant Mitchell's COA request on his claim of per se ineffective assistance of counsel.
Normally, to make a successful ineffective assistance of counsel claim under the Sixth Amendment, a defendant must show "(1) that counsel's performance was deficient, falling 'below an objective standard of reasonableness,' and (2) that the deficient performance prejudiced the defendant, depriving him of a fair trial." United States v. Bruce, 89 F.3d 886, 893 (D.C. Cir. 1996) (quoting Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 688 (1984)). Mitchell formulates two theories of ineffectiveness. The first is that Robertson's trial performance was deficient because he failed to produce Sonya Allen as a witness who would have, he claims, corroborated his defense. Certainly, as we observed in United States v. Debango, 780 F.2d 81 (D.C. Cir. 1986), "[t]he complete failure to investigate potentially corroborating witnesses ... can hardly be considered a tactical decision." Id. at 85. But, as we further recalled in Debango, "[e]ven if counsel's performance fell below prevailing professional norms ... Strickland requires that a defendant establish prejudice." Id. The prejudice that Mitchell claims arose from the absence of Allen's testimony, however, was plainly insufficient to satisfy the second prong of the Strickland test.2 To bypass this hurdle, Mitchell invokes the rule that prejudice can be presumed "if a defendant can show that 'a conflict of interest actually affected the adequacy of [the attorney's] representation....' " Bruce, 89 F.3d at 893 (quoting Cuyler v. Sullivan, 446 U.S. 335, 349 (1980)). Claiming that Robertson was suspended from the practice of law in the District of Columbia during Mitchell's trial, appellant argues that Robertson had a conflict of interest because he was preoccupied with his own disciplinary proceedings and fear of sanctions and wanted to keep his status concealed, so he did not expend extra funds reimbursable under the Criminal Justice Act as appointed counsel to seek out Ms. Allen.
Even if we also assume that Robertson was suspended, Mitchell's conflict of interest scenario is simply too hypothetical to gain him relief. There is no evidence that Robertson would have needed extraordinary funds to find Allen or that such expenditures would somehow trigger a review of his bar qualifications. We have been careful to guard against "defendants' attempts to force their ineffective assistance claims into the 'actual conflict of interest' framework ... and thereby supplant the strict Strickland standard with the far more lenient Cuyler test." Bruce, 89 F.3d at 893; see also United States v. Taylor, 139 F.3d 924, 930-32 (D.C. Cir. 1998).Mitchell's conflict theory is such an attempt. See United States v. Maria-Martinez, 143 F.3d 914, 916-17 (5th Cir. 1998) ("[A]n undisclosed lack of credentials ... provide[s] an incentive for lackluster representation, the theory goes, because the attorney will be concerned about drawing attention to himself and encouraging an inquiry into his background."), cert. denied, 525 U.S. 1107 (1999). We could as easily say that far from having a conflict of interest, Robertson had "an incentive to do his best" to avoid a later ineffective assistance claim and the exposure of his status. United States v. Leggett, 81 F.3d 220, 226-27 (D.C. Cir. 1996); see also Vance v. Lehman, 64 F.3d 119, 126 (3d Cir. 1995). We conclude that Mitchell's ineffectiveness claim on these grounds does not rise to the level of a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right.
III. Per Se Rule
We decline appellant's invitation to extend the per se ineffectiveness rule beyond cases in which a defendant is represented by a person never properly admitted to any bar. See, e.g., Solina v. United States, 709 F.2d 160, 168-69 (2d Cir. 1983); United States v. Novak, 903 F.2d 883, 886-90 (2d Cir. 1990). In fact, we earlier intimated such a limitation in United States v. Butler, 504 F.2d 220 (D.C. Cir. 1974).There, appellant's trial counsel had not been admitted to the local bar, and we stated that "[s]tanding alone, the mere fact of a trial attorney's nonmembership in the local bar is not necessarily sufficient to find that the right to effective counsel was breached." Id. at 223. Instead, we found counsel ineffective in Butler only because in addition to the lack of bar membership, there were numerous instances of attorney error at trial. See id. at 224.