Court Opinion

ID: 1003888
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2013-07-04 18:33:12.233133+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:09:28.435624
License: Public Domain

Filed:   March 20, 2001

                   UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

                       FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

                            No. 99-4832
                             (CR-99-8)

United States of America,

                                                Plaintiff - Appellee,

          versus

Willie Lee Gholson, Jr.,

                                               Defendant - Appellant.

                             O R D E R

     The court amends its opinion filed March 2, 2001, as follows:

     On page 2, second full paragraph of opinion, line 7 -- the

year in the DeTemple citation is corrected to read “1998.”

                                      For the Court - By Direction

                                          /s/ Patricia S. Connor
                                                   Clerk
UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.                                                             No. 99-4832

WILLIE LEE GHOLSON, JR.,
Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Western District of Virginia, at Charlottesville.
Norman K. Moon, District Judge.
(CR-99-8)

Submitted: February 20, 2001

Decided: March 2, 2001

Before WIDENER and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges, and
HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge.

_________________________________________________________________

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

_________________________________________________________________

COUNSEL

David L. Heilberg, LAW OFFICES OF DAVID L. HEILBERG,
Charlottesville, Virginia; Amy J. Collins, PRO-BONO CRIMINAL
ASSISTANCE PROJECT, Charlottesville, Virginia, for Appellant.
Robert P. Crouch, Jr., United States Attorney, Bruce A. Pagel, Assis-
tant United States Attorney, Charlottesville, Virginia, for Appellee.

_________________________________________________________________
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See
Local Rule 36(c).

_________________________________________________________________

OPINION

PER CURIAM:

Following a jury trial, Willie Lee Gholson, Jr., was convicted on
one count of conspiracy with intent to distribute cocaine base, in vio-
lation of 21 U.S.C.A. § 846 (West 1999), and two counts of distribu-
tion of cocaine base, in violation of 21 U.S.C.A. § 841(a)(1) (West
1999). The court sentenced him to sixty months in prison. Gholson
appeals, asserting that the district court abused its discretion by deny-
ing his motion for substitution of counsel. We find no merit in his
claim. Consequently, we affirm.

In determining whether the district court erred in denying a motion
to substitute counsel, we consider three factors: "`[t]imeliness of the
motion; adequacy of the court's inquiry into the defendant's com-
plaint; and whether the attorney/client conflict was so great that it
resulted in a total lack of communication preventing an adequate
defense.'" United States v. DeTemple, 162 F.3d 279, 288 (4th Cir.
1998) (quoting United States v. Mullen, 32 F.3d 891, 895 (4th Cir.
1994)). Applying these factors to the facts of this case, we find that
the district court did not abuse its discretion by denying Gholson's
motion. Id.

We therefore affirm Gholson's convictions. We dispense with oral
argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately
presented in the materials before the court and argument would not
aid the decisional process.

AFFIRMED

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