Court Opinion

ID: 9405715
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-06-29 00:00:29.511464+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:20:23.954887
License: Public Domain

Case: 22-60560         Document: 00516803836             Page: 1      Date Filed: 06/28/2023

              United States Court of Appeals
                   for the Fifth Circuit                                        United States Court of Appeals
                                      ____________                                       Fifth Circuit

                                                                                       FILED
                                       No. 22-60560                                June 28, 2023
                                     Summary Calendar                             Lyle W. Cayce
                                     ____________                                      Clerk

   United States of America,

                                                                       Plaintiff—Appellee,

                                             versus

   Derrick Houston,

                                               Defendant—Appellant.
                      ______________________________

                      Appeal from the United States District Court
                        for the Northern District of Mississippi
                               USDC No. 3:19-CR-65-11
                      ______________________________

   Before Smith, Southwick, and Douglas, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam: *
          Derrick Houston pled guilty to conspiring to commit racketeering
   activity. He was sentenced to 200 months of imprisonment and three years
   of supervised release. On appeal, Houston argues that his trial counsel
   provided ineffective assistance at sentencing.

          _____________________
          *
              This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 22-60560     Document: 00516803836          Page: 2    Date Filed: 06/28/2023

                                   No. 22-60560

          We generally will not consider the merits of an ineffective assistance
   of counsel claim on direct appeal. See United States v. Isgar, 739 F.3d 829,
   841 (5th Cir. 2014). Although there is an exception for those “rare cases in
   which the record allows a reviewing court to fairly evaluate the merits of the
   claim,” id. (quotation marks and citation omitted), this is not one of those.
   The record is not sufficiently developed to allow a fair evaluation of
   Houston’s ineffective assistance of counsel claim. We therefore decline to
   consider that claim, without prejudice to Houston raising it on collateral
   review.
          The district court’s judgment is AFFIRMED.                  Houston’s
   unopposed motion to seal all briefs, record excerpts, and the motion itself is
   GRANTED.

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