Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Victor D. Jackson v. United States of America

Case No.: 16-2470

Officials: BAUER, SYKES, and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

In 2011, Petitioner Victor Jackson and codefendant Daniel Kelly were convicted of cocaine-related offenses. Jackson was convicted by a jury while Kelly pleaded guilty. Jackson was sentenced to 360 months’ imprisonment. He appealed his conviction and sentence; we affirmed his conviction but vacated his sentence, holding that he was entitled to be resentenced under the Fair Sentencing Act based on the Supreme Court’s holding in Dorsey v. United States, 567 U.S. 260, 264 (2012). See United States v. Jackson, 491 F. App’x 738, 739 (7th Cir. 2012). On remand, with a new sentencing Guidelines range of 262 to 327 months’ imprisonment, the district court sentenced Jackson to 200 months’ imprisonment. On January 31, 2014, Jackson filed a pro se 28 U.S.C. § 2255 petition, arguing that he received ineffective assistance of counsel on several grounds. Judge Michael McCuskey denied the petition and did not issue a certificate of appealability. Jackson v. United States, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 52283, at *26 (C.D. Ill. Apr. 16, 2014). But we granted a certificate on Jackson’s claim that prior counsel provided ineffective assistance by misinforming him that he would not be eligible for a Fair Sentencing Act (“FSA”) reduction if he pleaded guilty. Following the filing of his opening appellate brief, Jackson and the government filed a joint motion for summary reversal and remand for an evidentiary hearing on the question presented in the certificate of appealability. We granted the motion, summarily vacated the district court’s judgment, and remanded the case for an evidentiary hearing on the issue. On remand, the district court referred the case to a magistrate judge for an evidentiary hearing, which was held on December 11, 2015

Vacated and remanded

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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.