Court Opinion

ID: 9491703
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 14:21:15.021076+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:54:54.052524
License: Public Domain

MESKILL, Circuit Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part:
I concur with the majority’s opinion to the extent that it concludes that the conviction of Jackson for both robbery in the first degree and criminal use of a firearm in the first degree runs afoul of the Double Jeopardy Clause.
I dissent, however, from the majority’s disposition of the case. I believe that before granting the writ we should remand the case and instruct the district court to offer Jackson’s appellate counsel an opportunity to explain her actions. Doing so would comport with the preferred procedure we enunciated in United States v. Dukes, 727 F.2d 34, 41 n. 6 (2d Cir.1984), and recently reaffirmed in Sparman v. Edwards, 154 F.3d 51, 52 (2d Cir.1998) (per curiam). In short, I believe very strongly that a lawyer’s interest in his or her professional reputation is great enough to justify affording that lawyer an opportunity to be heard before his or her performance is branded “ineffective.”
I agree that no good explanation readily springs to mind for the failure to raise the double jeopardy argument on direct appeal; it nonetheless bespeaks judicial arrogance to assume that counsel’s failure is indefensible without first offering her the opportunity to explain her failure to raise the issue. It just is not fair to the state court appellate counsel who is not involved in this petition and will have no opportunity to defend herself. I believe that the writ should issue only after appellate counsel has been given the 'opportunity to explain her conduct and has failed to show that her conduct was reasonable under the circumstances and not ineffective representation.