Pleas & Sentencing – Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

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Criminal

7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Officials: POSNER, MANION, and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges.

Pleas & Sentencing – Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

No. 14-1134 Jerry L. Vinyard v. United States of America

Appellant decision to elect collateral attack under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2255 as opposed to a direct appeal at the advice of his attorney did not amount to ineffective assistance.

“One problem with Vinyard’s argument is that he has been unable to explain what, exactly, he could have appealed to challenge the voluntariness of his plea. Arguments on direct appeal are “necessarily limited to the trial record, since a court of appeals does not take evidence.” United States v. Taglia, 922 F.2d 413, 417 (7th Cir. 1991). In this case, the limited record that would have been available on direct appeal contains no hint of the government coercion that Vinyard now contends he would have challenged. Rather, the record offers only the plea colloquy—when Vinyard repeatedly swore that his plea was voluntary and that the government’s factual basis for the charges was correct—and the stipulation of facts Vinyard signed agreeing that the conspiracy involved over 500 grams of methamphetamine.”

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.