Opinion ID: 770933
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Ineffective Assistance of sec. 2255 Counsel

Text: 38 Rutledge's final challenge is that his sec. 2255 counsel was ineffective for failing to present an argument to the district court that trial counsel was ineffective because he did not interview the alibi witnesses mentioned in Rutledge's September 20, 1998 letter. We describe above the basic legal standards for an ineffective assistance of counsel claim; however, a few additional points are relevant here. Because this court does not take any new evidence, the defendant's attempt to show ineffective assistance of sec. 2255 counsel is limited to the record developed below. See United States v. Penass, 997 F.2d 1227, 1229 (7th Cir. 1993). Isolated errors do not constitute ineffective assistance if the attorney's work product taken as a whole demonstrates competence. See Dahler v. United States, 143 F.3d 1084, 1086 (7th Cir. 1998). [T]he Constitution calls for a professionally competent defense, not for the best possible defense. Holman v. Gilmore, 126 F.3d 876, 883 (7th Cir. 1997). 39 Even if perhaps sec. 2255 counsel should have attempted to bring additional claims of ineffective assistance based on additional potential alibi witnesses, we find that sec. 2255 counsel was not constitutionally ineffective. The distribution charge was one of only six convictions that Rutledge and his counsel challenged. Section 2255 counsel filed a comprehensive supplemental memorandum providing legal support for all of the claims in Rutledge's petition. He competently briefed and orally argued at hearings a number of open questions, such as whether Rutledge's CCE conviction and felon in possession counts should be vacated. He vigorously presented Rutledge's claim that the distribution count should be vacated because trial counsel failed to interview Mummert. Finally, sec. 2255 counsel achieved a significant degree of success on behalf of Rutledge. Three of Rutledge's convictions were vacated, and his sentence for another conviction was reduced. 40 We also note that sec. 2255 counsel's possible failure in not bringing the additional potential alibi witnesses named in Rutledge's September 20, 1998 letter to the attention of the district court may primarily be the fault of Rutledge. Rutledge's original motion does not mention any alibi witnesses besides Mummert and Wright, nor did Rutledge ever attempt to amend his motion to bolster his ineffective assistance claim by adding such witnesses. Rutledge might not have told his sec. 2255 counsel of these witnesses until immediately before the district court's decision. Thus, not only was sec. 2255 counsel's overall performance competent for constitutional purposes, he may not have known of these additional witnesses until any attempt to amend the motion would have been too late to aid Rutledge.