Opinion ID: 176339
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Mr. Washington's claims of ineffective assistance of counsel

Text: In his most recent pro se § 2255 motion filed after our decision permitting him to start anew, Mr. Washington included five grounds to support his contention that his sentence was improper. He claimed, inter alia, that the government had offered him a plea bargain, that he was informed about the offer, and that Mr. Long was deficient in advising Mr. Washington to go to trial in the face of a pending offer of a ten-year sentence. Aple. Supp. App. at 31, 36, District Court Order, Nov. 5, 2008, at 14, 19 (hereinafter Order ). In June 2008, the district court, having appointed J. Steven Schweiker to represent Mr. Washington, held an evidentiary hearing regarding the § 2255 motion. During this hearing, Mr. Schweiker, for the first time, argued that it was ineffective assistance of counsel for Mr. Washington's attorney to not accompany him to the pre-sentence meeting with the probation officer or to at least advise him of the nature and possible consequences of the meeting, which resulted in Mr. Washington revealing to the probation officer incriminating information that increased his drug quantity by 2.5 kilograms. Aple. Supp. App. at 24. After the government objected to the claim's untimeliness, the district court took the matter under advisement. The court subsequently issued an order allowing Mr. Washington's new ineffective assistance of counsel claim to go forward. Before ruling on Mr. Washington's § 2255 motion, the district court held a second evidentiary hearing regarding the alleged plea negotiations between Mr. Long and the prosecutor, Julie Robinson (now the Honorable Julie Robinson), and Mr. Long's conduct with respect to the presentence interview. Thereafter, in its November 2008 order, the district court determined that contrary to Mr. Washington's contentions: (1) the government did not offer Mr. Washington a plea bargain requiring it to recommend a ten-year sentence; (2) before Mr. Long was appointed, and during Ms. Robinson's discussions with Mr. Washington, he indicated that he was not interested in cooperating with the government; (3) after Mr. Long was appointed, Ms. Robinson's conversations with Mr. Long regarding a possible plea agreement were general and preliminary in nature and never amounted to a specific and firm offer or agreement; and (4) Mr. Long proceeded to trial because Mr. Washington wanted to go to trial. [3] As to Mr. Washington's ineffective assistance of counsel argument based on counsel's failure to be present at or to advise Mr. Washington regarding the ramifications of the presentence interview, the district court stated that it was inclined to afford Mr. Washington relief but concluded it was constrained by the holding in United States v. Gordon, 4 F.3d 1567, 1571-72 (10th Cir.1993) (Defendant had no Sixth Amendment right to the presence or advice of counsel during the presentence interview). Mr. Washington filed a notice of appeal and an application for a COA. When we initially granted Mr. Washington a COA, we limited its scope to [w]hether the magnitude of trial counsel's error regarding the maximum sentence the defendant would face if he went to trial amounts to ineffective assistance under Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984), in light of this circuit's precedent in United States v. Gordon, 4 F.3d 1567, 1570 (10th Cir.1993). Apr. 6, 2009 COA. After hearing oral arguments, we expanded the scope of the COA by granting Mr. Washington's initial request to proceed in this appeal on the second question presented in his brief: whether his counsel's failure to understand the importance of relevant conduct to his potential sentence, in particular his failure to advise Mr. Washington regarding how to handle the presentence investigation meeting between the probation officer and Mr. Washington, amounted to constitutionally deficient performance under Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052. Apr. 8, 2010 COA. We also instructed the parties to address whether Mr. Washington has established there was a reasonable probability that but for counsel's deficient performance he would have likely received a lower sentence. See Glover v. United States, 531 U.S. 198, 200, 121 S.Ct. 696, 148 L.Ed.2d 604 (2001) (`[I]f an increased prison term did flow from an error the petitioner has established Strickland prejudice'); United States v. Horey, 333 F.3d 1185, 1188 (10th Cir.2003) (same). Application note 10(D)(ii)(I) to the 2007 Crack Cocaine Amendment U.S.S.G. 2D1.1. Id.