Opinion ID: 785985
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Previous Holding on Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

Text: 7 Attempts to distinguish the ineffective assistance of counsel claim forwarded in Harris I from the claim posited in this 28 U.S.C. § 2255 habeas petition are unavailing. In Harris I, the defendant anticipated that we would conclude that the safety valve issue was waived and therefore separately argued that trial counsel was ineffective based upon that waiver. (R. 1 at 5.) In considering the argument, we reiterated that such claims brought on direct appeal are discouraged because the absence of pertinent factual matters not typically found in a trial record make it incredibly difficult for a defendant to succeed in demonstrating that trial counsel's performance was deficient. Harris I, 230 F.3d at 1059. We then expressly rejected Harris's ineffective assistance of counsel claim: 8 [O]n this record we cannot say that counsel's failure to request a downward adjustment under the safety valve was not a strategic decision. Counsel argued for the minimum sentence within the guideline range rather than asserting that the district court should have applied the safety valve provision, which may or may not have applied to Harris, and counsel was entitled to be selective, especially where the pursuit of other avenues may have risked opening the door to the inclusion of unfavorable facts in the record. 9 Id. Although the district court in the instant petition did not consider whether it was bound by our decision in Harris I, holding instead that Harris was unable to demonstrate that the allegedly defective performance of trial counsel resulted in any prejudice to him, because we affirmatively adjudicated Harris's ineffective assistance of counsel claim in Harris I, we are now bound by that decision. 10 We have repeatedly warned defendants against raising an ineffective assistance of counsel claim on direct appeal. See, e.g., United States v. Allender, 62 F.3d 909, 913 (7th Cir.1995); United States v. South 28 F.3d 619, 629 (7th Cir.1994). Such claims likely ha[ve] no factual basis in the trial record... [a]nd if undertaken [on direct appeal], our conclusion will be binding on the district court should [a defendant] later decide to bring this challenge again under 28 U.S.C. § 2255. Allender, 62 F.3d at 913. Therefore, a defendant who presents an ineffective-assistance claim for the first time on direct appeal has little to gain and everything to lose. South, 28 F.3d at 629 (internal quotation omitted). This case serves as yet another cautionary tale.