Opinion ID: 2832711
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: An Evidentiary Hearing Is Required

Text: Based on Tolliver’s newly presented evidence, the District Court concluded: 1) that “a reasonable probability clearly exists that, if the jury knew that several of Tolliver’s co-workers, particularly Anderson, had pressing financial needs which Tolliver lacked, it could have changed the 3 To satisfy the prejudice prong of Strickland the movant “must establish a reasonable probability — one sufficient to undermine our confidence in the outcome — that the jury’s verdict would have been different if not for counsel’s errors. Such a showing may not be based on mere speculation about what the witnesses [the attorney] failed to locate might have said.” United States v. Gray, 878 F.2d 702, 712 (3d Cir. 1989) (internal citations omitted). 10 outcome at trial”; and 2) that “it is now clear that not even those identified as ‘insiders’ knew [Tolliver],” a fact that, had it been known by trial counsel, “would have meaningfully strengthened his defense.” Tolliver, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 96232, at –9. The problem with these conclusions is that the District Court failed to follow the procedure put forth in § 2255: where there are disputes of material fact, the first step is to hold an evidentiary hearing. Only then, after Tolliver’s factual assertions have been tested, is the District Court in the position to assess the merits of her underlying IAC claim and to grant or deny her § 2255 motion. It was an abuse of discretion for the District Court not to hold a hearing to resolve these disputes before granting Tolliver’s § 2255 motion.4 Booth, 432 F.3d at 546. 4 The District Court did not specifically address Tolliver’s contention that her password was not, in fact, secure and was known by her co-workers, including Anderson. However, at trial, the Government presented evidence that, when interviewed by Swoyer and Busch, Tolliver stated that she complied with Bank policy by not writing down her password and keeping it secret from her coworkers. Tolliver specifically told Swoyer and Busch that she kept a list of her passwords for other programs (e.g., the HR system), but, in keeping with the Bank’s policy, did not write down her password for accessing customer data. Additionally, as the District Court noted when it denied Tolliver’s post-trial motion for acquittal, “all of Defendant’s former co-workers who testified at trial stated that they did not know Defendant’s password.” App. at 52. This is an additional disputed material fact that must be addressed at an 11