What began as a high school bomb-threat case in Missouri’s Bootheel has led to the Supreme Court’s creation on Aug. 13 of a mechanism by which juveniles can claim ineffective assistance of counsel. In the case of D.C.M., a minor ...

Tagged with: ineffective assistance of counsel Juvenile Proceeding Missouri Supreme Court

Defendant was found guilty by a Minnesota state court jury of second-degree sale of drugs and sentenced to 108 months of incarceration. Defendant appealed the denial of his §2254 petition. Where the state court of appeals properly applied the Strickland ...

Tagged with: ineffective assistance of counsel Sale of Drugs

Defendant appealed the denial of his motion alleging ineffective assistance of counsel for trial counsel’s failure to call a corroborating witness and to fully investigate a note that provided clarity as to the target of defendant’s threatening statements. Where the ...

Tagged with: Failure to Investigate and Call Witnesses ineffective assistance of counsel

Defendant appealed from his below-guidelines range sentence, imposed after he pleaded guilty to illegal reentry. On appeal, defendant argued that he received ineffective assistance of counsel and that his sentence was substantively unreasonable. Where clams of ineffective assistance of counsel ...

Tagged with: Below-Guidelines Sentence Illegal Reentry ineffective assistance of counsel

Defendant pleaded guilty to bank fraud and the district court sentenced him to a within-guidelines sentence. On appeal, defendant argued that his sentence was substantively unreasonable and that he received ineffective assistance of counsel. Where the district court adequately considered ...

Tagged with: Bank Fraud ineffective assistance of counsel Within-Guidelines Sentence

Defendant appealed the denial of his motion alleging ineffective assistance of counsel. Defendant pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and conspiracy to launder money. Although the magistrate questioned the factual basis for defendant’s plea to the money-laundering charge, the district ...

Tagged with: Conspiracy to Distribute Failure to Object to Lack of Factual Basis ineffective assistance of counsel

Defendant pleaded guilty to unlawfully using identification documents. At defendant’s plea hearing, the district court confirmed that defendant understood he would likely be deported after serving his sentence and that his attorney had explained the same to him. On appeal, ...

Tagged with: Failure to Explain Immigration Consequences ineffective assistance of counsel Unlawful Use of Identification Documents

Defendant appealed from the sentence imposed after he pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. On appeal, defendant argued that his sentence was substantively unreasonable and that former counsel was ineffective for failing to negotiate a more ...

Tagged with: ineffective assistance of counsel Possession with Intent to Distribute Substantive Reasonableness of Sentence

Defendant appealed his conviction for conspiracy to distribute cocaine, challenging the sufficiency of evidence and alleging ineffective assistance of trial counsel. Where evidence at trial supported finding that defendant had been purchasing cocaine in conjunction with an accomplice from multiple ...

Tagged with: Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine ineffective assistance of counsel Sufficiency Of Evidence

Defendant appealed his civil commitment to the Department of Mental Health as a sexually violent predator. Defendant argued that he received ineffective assistance of counsel because his attorney failed to file an answer and object to the state’s “end-of-confinement report” ...

Tagged with: civil commitment ineffective assistance of counsel sexually violent predator

Defendant pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and to weapons offenses. In his plea agreement, defendant waived his right to appeal his convictions but not the sentence imposed by the district court. On appeal, defendant whether ...

Tagged with: Ability of Sentence to Support Related Conviction ineffective assistance of counsel Possession with Intent to Distribute