Plea Agreement – Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Willie Long v. United States of America

Case No.: 15-2668

Officials: BAUER and KANNE, Circuit Judges, and FEINERMAN, District Judge. 

Willie Long pled guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. Thereafter, Long sought col‐ lateral relief, arguing that his trial attorney provided ineffective assistance of counsel. Unfortunately for Long, his plea agreement contained a provision waiving his right to collaterally attack his conviction and sentence. For that reason, the district court summarily denied his claim. On appeal, Long argues that the district court erred in denying his claim without an evidentiary hearing. Long correctly notes that we will allow a petitioner to circumvent a collateral‐attack waiver if he can prove that his counsel was ineffective in negotiating the plea agreement containing that waiver. Nevertheless, because Long has failed to allege any facts that, if proven true, would entitle him to relief, he is not entitled to an evidentiary hearing. We affirm.

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.