Court Opinion

ID: 9484552
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 09:56:55.646965+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:50:18.808338
License: Public Domain

RYAN, Circuit Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
Although I join part IV of the majority opinion, and concur in the result reached in part III, I do not agree that Ratliff established “cause and prejudice” for failing to raise the restitution issue prior to filing this 18 U.S.C. § 2255 action. I must therefore dissent from what is written in part II. I also write separately to express my disagreement with the majority’s analysis in part III.
A.
I agree with the majority that the district court erred when it ordered Ratliff to pay, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §§ 3663 and 3664, additional restitution of $50,000 to cover the costs of the investigation. Ratliff failed, however, to object to his sentence below, and he did not raise the issue on direct appeal. Almost a year after sentence was imposed, Ratliff filed for habeas corpus relief pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255, in a motion to vacate, set aside, or correct sentence.1 Consequently, as the majority points out, Ratliff was required to establish “cause and prejudice” for failing to raise the restitution issue below and on direct appeal. See United States v. Frady, 456 U.S. 152, 166-67, 102 S.Ct. 1584, 1593, 71 L.Ed.2d 816 (1982).
In Frady, the Supreme Court held that the proper standard for reviewing issues raised for the first time in a motion under section 2255 is the “cause and actual prejudice” standard. Id. Under this standard, to obtain collateral relief based on trial errors to which no contemporaneous objection was made, a convicted defendant must show “cause” excusing his double procedural default and “actual prejudice” resulting from the error. Id. at 168, 102 S.Ct. at 1594-95. The majority concludes that Ratliff established both cause and prejudice. I agree that Ratliff can establish prejudice, that is, actual injury, see Frady, 456 U.S. at 170, 102 S.Ct. at 1595-96, resulting from the district court’s error in ordering restitution for the costs of the investigation and prosecution. I do not agree, however, that the record established “cause” to excuse Ratliffs failure to raise the issue at sentencing or on direct appeal.
The majority finds it significant that, in his objections to the magistrate judge’s recommendation to deny section 2255 relief, Ratliff, a pro se appellant, claimed that he had asked his attorney to appeal the restitution order but was rebuffed. Construing Ratliffs pro se pleadings liberally, the majority concludes that Ratliff has thus argued that his lawyer’s failure to appeal the restitution order amounted to “ineffectiveness” that “caused” the procedural default. Then the majority concludes that counsel’s failure to appeal the restitution order established that counsel’s representation was constitutionally ineffective and that, perforce, Ratliff has established “cause” for his failure to raise the restitution issue earlier. Even assuming that the majority correctly construes Ratliffs objections to the magistrate judge’s recommendation as raising the argument that counsel’s ineffectiveness caused Ratliffs procedural default, in my opinion Ratliff fails to meet the cause requirement under Frady because he fails to establish that counsel was constitutionally ineffective.
The majority is correct when it states that ineffective assistance of counsel may constitute “cause” under Frady. See Murray v. Carrier, 477 U.S. 478, 488, 106 S.Ct. 2639, 2645, 91 L.Ed.2d 397 (1986). However, to meet the “cause” requirement of Frady, counsel’s assistance must be tantamount to the denial of the assistance of counsel under the Sixth Amendment. The Supreme Court has stated that “the mere fact that counsel failed to recognize the factual or legal basis for a claim, or failed to raise the claim despite recognizing it, does not constitute cause for a procedural default.” Id. at 486, 106 S.Ct. at 2644. The Court held:
*1030We think ... that the question of cause for a procedural default does not turn on whether counsel erred or on the kind of error counsel may have made. So long as a defendant is represented by counsel whose performance is not constitutionally ineffective under the standard established in Strickland v Washington, [466 U.S. 668, 690, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 2065-66, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984),] we discern no inequity in requiring him to bear the risk of attorney error that results in a procedural default. Instead, we think that the existence of cause for a procedural default must ordinarily turn on whether the prisoner can show that some objective factor external to the defense impeded counsel’s efforts to comply with the State’s procedural rule.
Id. 477 U.S. at 488, 106 S.Ct. at 2645.
The entire ineffective assistance of counsel sufficient to constitute cause argument that the majority finds to have been raised in Ratliffs pro se pleadings is derived from the following statement in Ratliffs objection to the magistrate judge’s recommendation:
Defendant asked his Counsel immediately after sentencing to appeal the $50,000.00 restitution. Defendant was asked by Counsel “on what grounds?” At that time Defendant was not competent to answer and remained incompetent to answer during the limitations of a timely appeal.
(Emphasis added.) Ratliffs claim, liberally construed, presents, at most, an allegation of attorney error. There is absolutely no evidence in the record that “some objective factor external to the defense impeded counsel’s efforts” to raise the restitution claim prior to this section 2255 action.
In Strickland, the Supreme Court established a two-part inquiry into whether a defendant was denied his Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel:
First, the defendant must show that counsel’s performance was deficient. This requires showing that counsel made errors so serious that counsel was not functioning as the “counsel” guaranteed the defendant by the Sixth Amendment. Second, the defendant must show that the deficient performance prejudiced the defense. This requires showing that counsel’s errors were so serious as to deprive the defendant of a fair trial, a trial whose result is reliable. Unless a defendant makes both showings, it cannot be said that the conviction ... resulted from a breakdown in the adversary process that renders the result unreliable.
Strickland, 466 U.S. at 687, 104 S.Ct. at 2064. The proper standard for evaluating attorney performance is that of reasonably effective assistance of counsel considered “in light of all the circumstances.” Id. at 690, 104 S.Ct. at 2066. A reviewing court’s scrutiny of counsel’s performance is highly deferential, and there is a strong presumption that counsel’s conduct fell within the wide range of reasonable professional assistance. Id. at 689, 104 S.Ct. at 2065. Thus, under Strickland, ordinary oversight, simple miscalculation, and bad judgment are not sufficient to establish that counsel was constitutionally ineffective.
The standards set forth in Frady and in Strickland are difficult to meet. Nevertheless, in spite of the absence of a hearing by the district court on the issue of ineffective assistance of counsel,2 the majority concludes that “[a] refusal to appeal an erroneous restitution award, which award would have been subject to reversal on appeal, would meet the Strickland test and would clearly constitute cause for Ratliffs failure to appeal the award.” Majority op. at 1026. I do not agree that the record presently before this court is adequate to overcome the “strong presumption” of Strickland. It may be that counsel’s failure to appeal the restitution issue amounted to ineffectiveness. Likewise, it may be that counsel had a plausible expla*1031nation for not doing so. That is what a hearing in the trial court on ineffectiveness claims is intended to reveal. There simply is no record before this court regarding the quality of assistance Ratliff received from trial counsel on the restitution issue. Thus, I do not believe that this court is free to conclude, in the absence of a record developed at an evidentiary hearing, that counsel’s assistance was so deficient as to amount to constitutional ineffectiveness under the demanding Strickland standard.3
Assuming that the majority correctly concluded that Ratliff, in his objections to the magistrate judge’s recommendation to deny section 2255 relief, suggested that his counsel’s ineffectiveness “caused” his procedural default, I believe it more appropriate for this court to remand the case to the district court with instructions to hold a hearing to determine: 1) whether the assistance provided by Ratliffs counsel was constitutionally deficient; and 2) whether the ineffectiveness of Ratliffs counsel constituted “cause” under Frady to excuse Ratliffs failure to raise the issue of restitution in earlier proceedings.
Therefore, I must respectfully dissent from that part of the majority’s opinion which concludes that Ratliff met the “cause” requirement of Frady.
B.
As previously stated, although I agree that the majority reached the correct result in part III of its opinion, I cannot join in the rationale.
The majority concludes that the district court clearly erred when it found that Ratliff had adequate opportunity to bring any inaccuracies about his net worth in the presen-tence report to the sentencing court’s attention. Majority op. at 1027. But according to the majority, Ratliff fails to show that the net worth information relief upon by the sentencing court was false. Majority op. at 1028. Therefore, the majority concludes, Ratliff “raises neither a Rule 32 violation which would require resentencing nor a due process claim which can be addressed in this § 2255 proceeding.” Majority op. at 1028.
Ratliff, however, first raised the claim that the presentence report contained inaccurate information about his net worth in his Rule 32 motion, a motion in which Ratliff asked the sentencing court to correct the presen-tence report. Ratliff filed this Rule 32 motion after he filed his section 2255 motion, so the district court properly construed the Rule 32 motion as an addendum to Ratliffs section 2255 motion. Because Ratliff raises this argument for the first time in a section 2255 motion, under Frady, he must establish “cause and prejudice” for failing to raise the issue below or on direct appeal. See Frady, 456 U.S. at 166-67, 102 S.Ct. at 1593-94. Ratliff shows neither cause nor prejudice; therefore, I would hold that the district court should not have considered this claim when determining Ratliffs section 2255 motion. Furthermore, I disagree with the majority’s statement that there is no evidence that Ratliff had an opportunity to review the presen-tence report with his attorney. See majority op. at 1027. The record indicates that Ratliff reviewed and read the original presentence report, discussed the report with his attorney, and suggested modifications. At the request of Ratliffs counsel, the report was modified. Although the record indicates that Ratliff did not read the modified presentence report prior to sentencing, the information regarding Ratliffs net worth was not altered in the new presentence report. Consequently, the record indicates that Ratliff had adequate opportunity to read and discuss with his attorney (and an opportunity to suggest modifications to) the portion of the presen-tence report that determined Ratliffs net worth.
For all of these reasons, I respectfully dissent from the conclusions reached in part II of the majority opinion and the reasoning in part III. I concur, however, in the balance of the majority opinion except with the order vacating the $50,000 restitution order. *1032As to that, I would remand to the trial court for further proceedings.

. Although Ratliff moved, in his § 2255 motion, to vacate the $50,000 restitution order, he did not do so on the ground that 18 U.S.C. § 3663 did not allow the court to order restitution to cover the costs of the investigation. Ratliff raised that argument, for the first time, when he filed his objections to the magistrate judge’s report that recommended that the district court deny § 2255 relief.

. The general rule in this circuit is that "a defendant may not raise a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel for the first time on direct appeal, since such a situation generally precludes an opportunity to develop and include evidence bearing on the merits of the allegations of ineffective assistance in the record." United States v. Smith, 981 F.2d 887, 894 (6th Cir.1992). Most circuits would permit a defendant to raise his ineffective assistance of counsel claim in a post-conviction proceeding under 28 U.S.C. § 2255. United States v. Wunder, 919 F.2d 34, 37 (6th Cir.1990).

. The absence in the majority opinion of a single citation to any case from this circuit for the proposition that restitution may not include the costs of investigation strongly suggests that Rat-lift's counsel’s failure to appeal on that ground may not amount to Strickland constitutional ineffectiveness.