Opinion ID: 2994263
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Effect of the Plea Agreement on Mason’s

Text: Right to Seek Post-Conviction Relief Mason argues that the waiver he made as part of the plea agreement does not preclude his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. He argues that he is challenging his counsel’s deficient performance, not his sentence itself. Because one’s entitlement to effective assistance is a fundamental right, Mason asserts that no defendant may ever waive the right to seek post- conviction relief on the grounds of ineffective assistance of counsel. Thus he contends that the trial judge erred in denying his petition for post-conviction relief under sec. 2255. This Court reviews a district court’s denial of a sec. 2255 petition on factual matters for clear error, and on questions of law de novo. See Arango-Alvarez v. United States, 134 F.3d 888, 890 (7th Cir. 1998); Wilson v. United States, 125 F.3d 1087, 1090 (7th Cir. 1997). The trial court held that Mason waived his right to bring a sec. 2255 petition, and furthermore that Mason’s claim of ineffective assistance is nothing more than a challenge to his sentence. Under the law of this circuit, the trial judge reasoned, Mason’s waiver stands unless it can be established that he entered his guilty plea without knowing or understanding the terms thereof, or unless he claims ineffective assistance in connection with the negotiation of the waiver. Based on Mason’s statements at the plea hearing, the judge properly concluded that Mason knowingly and voluntarily entered into the plea agreement and that the defendant stated that he was satisfied with the performance of his counsel at the time of the entry of the plea. The trial judge had a colloquy with Mason in which he explained the sentence that he faced, and, furthermore, that he was also giving up his right to appeal the sentence or in any way challenge it. The court was satisfied that Mason fully understood the rights that he was waiving and that when he answered the judge’s questions in the affirmative he fully understood what he was relinquishing and made his decision to waive those rights freely and voluntarily. He only became dissatisfied with his counsel’s performance after the court imposed the sentence upon him. In Jones v. United States, 167 F.3d 1142 (7th Cir. 1999), this Court addressed for the first time the issue of the enforcement of a plea or cooperation agreement that also waives the right to file a petition under sec. 2255. We noted in Jones that such a waiver is enforceable only if it is knowing and voluntary and if the defendant cannot establish a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel in connection with negotiating the agreement. However, we cautioned in Jones that it is only in these situations that a waiver is unenforceable: Justice dictates that a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel in connection with the negotiation of a [plea] agreement cannot be barred by the agreement itself--the very product of the alleged ineffectiveness. . . . Similarly, where a waiver is not the product of the defendant’s free will--for example, where it has been procured by government coercion or intimidation--the defendant cannot be said to have knowingly or voluntarily relinquished his rights. It is intuitive that in these circumstances the waiver is ineffective against a challenge based on its involuntariness. Mindful of the limited reach of this holding, we reiterate that waivers are enforceable as a general rule; the right to mount a collateral attack pursuant to sec. 2255 survives only with respect to those discrete claims which relate directly to the negotiation of the waiver. Id. at 1145 (emphasis added). Jones requires us to explore the nature of Mason’s claim to determine if his challenge relates to the negotiation of the waiver. In other words, can the petitioner establish that the waiver was not knowingly or voluntarily made, and/or can he demonstrate ineffective assistance of counsel with respect to the negotiation of the waiver? The trial judge determined that the answer to both of these questions was no. Upon our review of the record, including the transcript from the change of plea hearing, we refuse to hold that the judge’s findings in this regard were clearly erroneous. Mason is not challenging the voluntariness of the negotiation of the waiver in his plea agreement; in fact, neither did he claim before the trial court nor before this Court that his decision to enter into the agreement was anything but voluntary. The record demonstrates that Mason volunteered to cooperate and enter into an agreement with the government in order that he might possibly receive the benefit of a lighter sentence. Nor does Mason claim that he received ineffective assistance of counsel with respect to the negotiation of the waiver. To the contrary, when specifically questioned by the trial judge during the change of plea hearing, Mason stated that he was pleased with the performance of his attorney up to that time and that his attorney had done everything that Mason expected of him. Mason merely challenges the fact that his attorney did not adequately challenge the drug quantity for which Mason was held accountable and the fact that he did not persist in his request for a downward departure greater than the two levels granted by the sentencing court./4 Mason’s ineffective assistance of counsel claim relates only to his attorney’s performance with respect to sentencing. Because the challenge has nothing to do with the issue of a deficient negotiation of the waiver, Mason has waived his right to seek post-conviction relief. See Jones, 167 F.3d at 1145. Thus, the trial court’s denial of his sec. 2255 petition was proper.