Opinion ID: 167470
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Involuntariness of plea agreement

Text: Mr. Graham alleges that, despite his repeated requests, his defense counsel did not investigate IADA violations and their possible impact on the validity of his superceding indictment before advising him to plead guilty. He contends that he was denied his Sixth Amendment right to an effective assistance of counsel, resulting in a coerced guilty plea. According to Mr. Graham, had he been aware of the IADA violations, he would not have pleaded guilty to armed bank robbery and instead would have pursued dismissal of the superceding indictment with prejudice. He contends that the plea agreement did not provide significantly less prison time than a trial conviction. We first address the government’s contentions that Mr. Graham has waived any claims of statutory IADA violations because he pleaded guilty and did not file a direct appeal. It is true that “a prisoner may waive his rights under the IADA” by demonstrating that he “has affirmatively requested treatment in a manner contrary to” the IADA. Yellen, 829 F.2d at 1474. While Mr. Graham’s two claims before us are predicated on the violation of his statutory IADA rights, each claim alleges a separate violation under the Sixth Amendment. That Mr. Graham’s guilty plea may have foreclosed any statutory claims of IADA violations does not affect our review of his independent constitutional claims. We also reject the government’s argument that Mr. Graham is precluded from -9- filing a § 2255 motion because he did not file a direct appeal. “[A]n ineffectiveassistance-of-counsel claim may be brought in a collateral proceeding under § 2255, whether or not the petitioner could have raised the claim on direct appeal.” Massaro v. United States, 538 U.S. 500, 504 (2003). We therefore review Mr. Graham’s allegation–that his counsel’s ineffective assistance made his guilty plea involuntary–under the familiar framework of Strickland, 466 U.S. at 686. “[T]he two-part test applies to challenges to guilty pleas based on ineffective assistance of counsel.” Hill v. Lockhart, 474 U.S. 52, 57 (1985). This approach is also consistent with how other appellate courts have analyzed prisoners’ § 2255 ineffective-assistance challenges based on IADA violations. See, e.g., Baxter v. United States, 966 F.2d 387, 389 (8th Cir. 1992) (applying the Strickland test to a prisoner’s § 2255 Sixth Amendment claim that his trial counsel improperly “advised him to plead guilty when [the counsel] should have sought dismissal of the charges under the IADA”); United States v. Espinoza, 866 F.2d 1067, 1070 (9th Cir. 1988) (reviewing under Strickland a prisoner’s § 2255 claim of ineffective assistance of counsel based on his trial counsel’s failure to raise the government’s violation of the IADA). Mr. Graham must show that his counsel’s performance was deficient, and this deficient performance prejudiced his defense. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 687. Under the first prong, he must demonstrate that his counsel’s representation “fell -10- below an objective standard of reasonableness.” Id. at 688. Mr. Graham must establish that his counsel’s advice to plead guilty was outside “the range of competence demanded of attorneys in criminal cases.” Hill, 474 U.S. at 56 (quoting McMann v. Richardson, 397 U.S. 759, 771 (1970)). Under the prejudice prong, he “must show that there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel’s errors, he would not have pleaded guilty and would have insisted on going to trial.” Id. at 59. This prejudice inquiry resembles our inquiry for claims of ineffective assistance from trial convictions. The assessment of an alleged “failure to investigate or discover exculpatory evidence” or to “advise the defendant of a potential affirmative defense” depends largely on whether the evidence or defense “likely would have changed the outcome of a trial.” Id. Mr. Graham’s allegations raise important questions about the effectiveness of his counsel in advising him to plead guilty. The record establishes that (1) the government incorrectly filed a non-IADA detainer against Mr. Graham, and (2) under Article IV and Section 9 of the IADA, he and his counsel should have received notice and a hearing prior to the dismissal of his original indictment without prejudice. The court also did not consider the factors under Section 9(1) before it dismissed the original indictment without prejudice. The district court neither held an evidentiary hearing nor made any factual findings before it denied the Sixth Amendment claims. Consequently, the record -11- does not reveal whether Mr. Graham’s counsel ever investigated possible IADA violations or discussed IADA issues with him prior to the plea agreement. In further support of his claim, Mr. Graham points out a recent decision in which the United States District Court for the District of Kansas dismissed an indictment with prejudice after the government mistakenly filed an “unsentenced” detainer against a state prisoner who was in fact covered by the IADA. See Queen v. Farden, 2005 WL 1941693, at -3 (D. Kan. Aug. 12, 2005). Given the seriousness of Mr. Graham’s allegations and the undeveloped factual record, we find the Sixth Circuit’s decision in Kowalak v. United States, 645 F.3d 534 (6th Cir. 1981) relevant here. In Kowalak, a pro se prisoner “alleged that his defense counsel did not inform him of his rights under IAD[A] and advised [him] that he could fulfill his wish to remain in federal custody by pleading guilty to the federal charges against him.” Id. at 537. The circuit found it “clear that his former counsel was unaware of or chose to ignore the provisions of the IAD[A],” and the court was especially concerned about the allegations because they were “uncontradicted by the scant record.” Id. The Sixth Circuit concluded that the district court had abused its discretion in not holding an evidentiary hearing. “A Sixth Amendment claim grounded on such a credible allegation . . . must be explored at a hearing which gives the defendant an adequate opportunity to shoulder his burden on showing the inadequacy of his -12- counsel.” Id. at 537-38. We conclude that Mr. Graham’s record before the district court did not “conclusively” show that he was entitled to no relief. Therefore, the district court abused its discretion when it denied the § 2255 motion without holding an evidentiary hearing. We remand to the district court for an evidentiary hearing where Mr. Graham will have the burden to prove that his counsel’s ineffective assistance rendered his guilty plea involuntary.