Opinion ID: 790004
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Turcotte's Sundry Procedural Claims

Text: 73 Finally, in addition to the more fully developed claims examined above, Turcotte tacks on five allegations of trial errors and procedural infirmities. These claims are not discussed in the decision below and presumably were not raised before the district court. They are presented in such a cursory and unelaborated fashion that we feel justified in dismissing them outright. In this circuit, unsupported and undeveloped arguments are waived. See United States v. Toney, 27 F.3d 1245, 1249 (7th Cir.1994); United States v. Berkowitz, 927 F.2d 1376, 1384 (7th Cir.1991); Pelfresne v. Village of Williams Bay, 917 F.2d 1017, 1023 (7th Cir.1990); United States v. Williams, 877 F.2d 516, 519 (7th Cir.1989). 74 Yet even were we to indulge Turcotte and take these claims seriously, they still fail on their own terms. Turcotte's claim that the use of expert testimony regarding GHB was irrelevant to testimony concerning GBL and BD, (Appellant's Br. at 40), is false. Testimony concerning the health effects of GHB was directly relevant to the second and third clauses of § 802(32)(A), which require controlled substance analogues to have similar actual or purported physiological effects to controlled substances. Thus consideration of GHB's physiological effects was crucial to the jury's determination that GBL, in light of its own physiological effects, is an analogue of GHB. ( See Appellee's Br. at 43-44.) 75 Turcotte's second claim, that his sentence was necessarily based upon the sale of all three substances [GHB, BD and GBL], (Appellant's Br. at 41.), is little more than a weak reprise of assertions made earlier in the brief concerning disjunctive versus conjunctive readings of § 802(32)(A). For the reasons discussed in that portion of our opinion, supra, this claim is directly contradicted by the record and is thus unsupportable. 76 Turcotte's third claim alleges that the district court improperly allowed two unqualified witnesses to testify as experts regarding the similarity of effects between GHB, GBL and BD. (Appellant's Br. at 41.) Even if Turcotte had raised this claim previously — which apparently he did not — we still review for abuse of discretion only. United States v. Van Dreel, 155 F.3d 902, 905 (7th Cir.1998). Given that both witnesses had advanced scientific degrees (one had a Ph.D. in medical anthropology and one was a medical doctor) and both had published extensively on the effects of GHB and GBL, there is no evidence that the district court abused its discretion in certifying them as expert witnesses. 77 The fourth claim concerns an episode in which a juror in the case encountered a prosecution witness during a court recess and asked the witness for a mint. Turcotte alleges that the court should have made a more extensive inquiry into the incident or granted Turcotte a mistrial. (Appellant's Br. at 41-42.) Turcotte presents absolutely no evidence of any wrongdoing or resulting prejudice connected with this ostensibly chance encounter, and thus he has not even begun to carry his burden of demonstrating an abuse of discretion by the district court. See United States v. Cassano, 372 F.3d 868 (7th Cir.2004) (district court's decision not to grant a mistrial is reviewed for abuse of discretion). 78 Finally, Turcotte's allegation of ineffective assistance of counsel is likewise too sparse and unsupported to gain any traction. Turcotte's unsubstantiated and largely conclusory statements fall far short of carrying his burden of persuasion as to the two elements of the test outlined in Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 689, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). See United States v. Davenport, 986 F.2d 1047, 1049 (7th Cir.1993) (defendant bears burden of proof and persuasion to establish ineffective assistance of counsel). We also note that, should Turcotte wish to pursue his ineffective assistance claim in earnest, such a claim is best brought in a collateral proceeding under 28 U.S.C. § 2255. See Massaro v. United States, 538 U.S. 500, 504, 123 S.Ct. 1690, 155 L.Ed.2d 714 (2003) (Observing that in most cases a motion brought under § 2255 is preferable to direct appeal for deciding claims of ineffective-assistance). 79 Accordingly, we reject four of these five claims, which seem to be added as afterthoughts to Turcotte's main arguments, and we decline to rule on the fifth (ineffective assistance) at this juncture.