Opinion ID: 563275
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: dismissal of motion for post-conviction relief

Text: 27 Following his sentencing, Delgado presented the district court with a motion for post-conviction relief under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2255 alleging ineffective assistance of counsel. Specifically, Delgado claimed that his attorney failed to meet with him to warn him of the necessity for truthfulness prior to his interview with the probation officer during the pre-sentence investigation, did not express Delgado's desire to cooperate with the government in apprehending other drug dealers, failed to explain that the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination did not give Delgado the right to deny to court officials that he was wanted in New Jersey, did not warn Delgado of the consequences of the use of patent cough medicine containing codeine while on bail, failed to correct the defendant's false statements with prompt communications to the prosecutor and probation officer and generally neglected his duty to facilitate communication between the defendant and prosecutor. It should be noted that Delgado had prior experience with the criminal justice system as a result of his arrest and conviction in the state of New Jersey on the illegal possession of weapon charge. The trial court after reviewing the motion, summarily dismissed Delgado's motion under Rule 4 of the rules governing post-conviction relief under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2255. The court found that the reasons defendant avers for his former counsel's ineffective assistance fall short of the Strickland [v. Washington ] standard, noting that [e]ach of the grounds defendant asserts appear to be examples of the defendant's failures that he now seeks to impute to his former counsel. 28 Delgado's motion for post-conviction relief was dismissed under Rule 4(b) of the Rules Governing Section 2255 Proceedings, which provides: 29 The motion, together with all the files, records, transcripts, and correspondence relating to the judgment under attack, shall be examined promptly by the judge to whom it is assigned. If it plainly appears from the face of the motion and any annexed exhibits and the prior proceedings in the case that the movant is not entitled to relief in the district court, the judge shall make an order for its summary dismissal and cause the movant to be notified. Otherwise, the judge shall order the United States Attorney to file an answer or other pleading within the period of time fixed by the court or to take such other action as the judge deems appropriate. 30 As we observed in Liss v. United States, 915 F.2d 287, 290 (7th Cir.1990), summary dismissal of section 2255 motions is encouraged in appropriate cases: 31  '[M]erely raising a Sec. 2255 motion does not automatically entitle the defendant to a hearing.' United States v. Politte, 852 F.2d 924, 931 (7th Cir.1988). This court made clear in Politte that to allow indiscriminate hearings in federal post-conviction proceedings would eliminate the chief virtues of the justice system--speed, economy and finality. Id. In fact, 'a judge should dismiss the petition without a hearing if it plainly appears from the facts of the motion and any annexed exhibits and the prior proceedings in the case that the movant is not entitled to relief.' Aleman v. United States, 878 F.2d 1009, 1012 (7th Cir.1989) (quoting Rule 4(b) of the Rules Governing Section 2255 Proceedings). 32 Cf. McCleskey v. Zant, --- U.S. ----, 111 S.Ct. 1454, 1461-71, 113 L.Ed.2d 517 (1991) (Recognizing dismissal of second habeas corpus petition for abuse of writ). 33 Review of the dismissal of Delgado's section 2255 motion requires us to determine whether Delgado received ineffective assistance from his counsel during his sentencing. In United States v. Moya-Gomez, 860 F.2d 706, 763-64 (7th Cir.1988), cert. denied, 492 U.S. 908, 109 S.Ct. 3221, 106 L.Ed.2d 571 (1989), we set forth the requirements for establishing ineffective assistance of counsel: 34 The defendant bears a heavy burden in establishing an ineffective assistance of counsel claim. He must show (1) that the attorney's representation fell below an objective standard of reasonableness (performance prong), Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 688, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 2065, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984), and (2) that there exists a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's unprofessional errors, the result of the proceedings would have been different (prejudice prong), id. at 694, 104 S.Ct. at 2068. See also United States ex rel. Barnard v. Lane, 819 F.2d 798, 802 (7th Cir.1987); United States v. Hillsberg, 812 F.2d 328, 336 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, [481 U.S. 1041], 107 S.Ct. 1981, 95 L.Ed.2d 821 (1987). With regard to the performance prong, the defendant must identify the specific acts or omissions of counsel that formed the basis for his claim of ineffective assistance. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 690, 104 S.Ct. at 2066. The court 'must then determine whether, in light of all the circumstances, the identified acts or omissions were outside the wide range of professionally competent assistance.' Id. The court's scrutiny of counsel's performance must be conducted with a high degree of deference and without the distorting effects of hindsight. Id. at 689, 104 S.Ct. at 2065; United States v. Sherwood, 770 F.2d 650, 655 (7th Cir.1985). As to the prejudice prong of the inquiry, a 'reasonable probability' of a different result means a 'probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome [of the trial].' Strickland, 466 U.S. at 694, 104 S.Ct. at 2068. 35 This standard applies to the assistance of counsel at sentencing. See United States v. Slaughter, 900 F.2d 1119, 1124-25 (7th Cir.1990) (applying Strickland standard to assistance at sentencing). 36 Delgado contends that his attorney's performance was deficient in that he failed to meet with him prior to his interviews with the probation officer, did not inform Delgado of the necessity to respond truthfully to the probation officer's inquiries, did not tell Delgado that untruthful answers to questions are improper means to assert the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and did not warn him of the importance of disclosing all drug use, including the ingestion of over the counter cough medicine containing codeine. Acceptance of Delgado's position would lead to a per se requirement that attorneys anticipate that their clients will be ignorant of the very basic obligation to be truthful with the court's probation office. It is a ridiculous argument that an attorney is required to warn his client of this obvious duty. In Lewis v. United States, 902 F.2d 576, 577 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 111 S.Ct. 202, 112 L.Ed.2d 163 (1990), we rejected an analogous contention that effective assistance of counsel requires an attorney to inform his client prior to a guilty plea of the obvious fact that a conviction may adversely affect sentencing. 37 [D]efense counsel does not violate his constitutional duty of minimally adequate representation when he fails to warn the defendant that one possible consequence of a guilty plea is a more severe sentence for a future crime.... [D]efendants know that repeat offenders are punished more severely than first offenders. Guilty plea proceedings under Rule 11 are protracted enough as it is, without requiring judge and counsel to advise the defendant of things that he already knows perhaps as well as they do. 38 It should be noted that Delgado had experience with the criminal justice system as pointed out earlier. Certainly, all persons should be cognizant of the duty and responsibility to be truthful including during their contacts with court officials. But an individual with prior experience in the criminal justice system should be especially aware of the obligation of truthfulness as we noted in a case where a defendant was untruthful in describing the extent of his criminal history: 39 [I]t is proper to conclude that Osborne, not a first offender and thus familiar with the criminal justice system, was well aware, at the time of his interview and entry into the plea agreement, that he was failing to give an accurate recitation of his arrest and criminal history. Osborne had repeated experience in dealing with law enforcement personnel and the courts which included six arrests and five convictions. Osborne's experience in dealing with prosecutors and the criminal courts clearly should have made him aware that misdemeanors are crimes and will be considered in determining the extent of his criminal history. 40 Osborne, 931 F.2d at 1168 (footnote omitted). In a judicial system where justice can only be attained through truthful witnesses, the obligation to be honest with federal court personnel is an obvious duty and responsibility of all. Thus, an attorney's failure to explicitly inform his client of the necessity to tell the truth does not constitute the deficient performance necessary for a finding of ineffective assistance of counsel. 41 Delgado further contends that his attorney should have more promptly informed the probation officer and the prosecutor of Delgado's false statements concerning his drug use and criminal record, after Delgado informed him of his lack of candor. We have determined that when a defendant has failed to establish 'that there is a reasonable probability that, but for the counsel's unprofessional errors, the result of the proceedings would have been different,' [Strickland, 466 U.S. at 694, 104 S.Ct. at 2068] ... we need not examine whether [the attorney's] performance was deficient. Slaughter, 900 F.2d at 1124-25. See also United States v. Fakhoury, 819 F.2d 1415, 1424 (7th Cir.1987) ([W]e need not assess the performance component of the Strickland analysis because the appellant clearly has not satisfied his burden of showing prejudice.), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 1026, 108 S.Ct. 749, 98 L.Ed.2d 762 (1988). In this case there is not a reasonable probability that a correction of the false statements at an earlier date would have altered the court's decision to impose the upward adjustment for obstruction of justice under Section 3C1.1 of the Guidelines. On two occasions we have held that the obstruction of justice adjustment may apply even when a defendant recants untrue information provided to authorities within a period of days after the information was provided. See United States v. Gaddy, 909 F.2d 196, 199 (7th Cir.1990) (furnishing a false name to agents constituted an attempt to obstruct justice under Section 3C1.1 even though the defendant provided his real name two days later); United States v. Dillon, 905 F.2d 1034, 1039 (7th Cir.1990) (provision of false name of cocaine source obstructed justice even though the following day the defendant provided the true name of the source). With regard to Delgado's argument that he could have received an acceptance of responsibility adjustment under Section 3E1.1 of the Guidelines if his trial counsel had communicated his recantation of his untruthful statements at an earlier time, we note that Delgado completely failed to request an acceptance of responsibility adjustment in the district court. 4 It is very doubtful and mere speculation that communication of the recantation of Delgado's untrue statements at a prior date would have resulted in the trial court choosing to provide Delgado with an acceptance of responsibility adjustment that Delgado never requested. Thus, because the result of the proceedings would likely have been the same regardless of whether the court was aware that Delgado desired to recant his false declarations at a time just immediately prior to the sentencing hearing, we are convinced that Delgado did not suffer prejudice from the failure of his attorney to expeditiously correct Delgado's false statements. 42 Delgado finally asserts that his attorney failed to adequately pursue the question of whether Delgado might cooperate with the government's efforts to prosecute other drug dealers and failed to maintain consistent communication with the government on this issue. At the sentencing hearing, Delgado and the government extensively discussed the question of Delgado's cooperation. While the government did not move to depart downward based upon cooperation, it demonstrated a willingness to sit down and talk to Delgado about his possible cooperation following sentencing. Both the government and the trial court explicitly stated that the government could file a motion for downward departure under Rule 35 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure within a year of sentencing based on any assistance Delgado might provide to authorities. Thus, Delgado's offer to cooperate at the time of sentencing, the government's willingness to consider cooperation after sentencing, the government's option to file a Rule 35 motion within a year of sentencing if Delgado provided substantial assistance in the investigation or prosecution of another person who has committed an offense, Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 35(b), and the trial judge's recognition of the government's opportunity to file this motion, require the conclusion that Delgado suffered no prejudice from any failure of defense counsel to fully communicate with the government regarding Delgado's willingness to cooperate prior to sentencing. Accordingly, the trial court properly determined that Delgado's claims of ineffective assistance of counsel were meritless and appropriately entered an order summarily dismissing Delgado's post-conviction motion. 43 The trial court's sentence of Delgado and its summary dismissal of his post-conviction motion under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2255 are 44 AFFIRMED.