Ineffective Assistance of Counsel – Court Error

Listen to this article

7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Lamar Blake v. United States of America

Case No.: 15-1239

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

Focus: Ineffective Assistance of Counsel – Court Error

Court finding that appellant failed to ask attorney to file an appeal was not clearly erroneous. I

“Despite Blake’s best efforts to argue that some of the district court’s reasoning was not based on the evidence, the district court here chose between two competing, plausible versions of events. The only evidence, other than the jail visitors’ logs, was testimony by Blake and his attorney. Counsel said that Blake never asked him to file an appeal, and the district court believed his testimony over Blake’s. This find- ing is clearly supported. The court credited counsel because, for example, his testimony that Blake was happy with his sentence aligned with the court’s reading of the sentencing transcript and was logical because Blake faced the possibility of a far longer sentence. Indeed, the district court said at sentencing that “[i]t would be easy for me to sentence [Blake] to the maximum of 235 or go over that.” Furthermore, Blake failed to present any evidence corroborating his version of events, such as an affidavit or testimony from the family members he claimed unsuccessfully tried to contact his attorney, even though his brother was present at the evidentiary hearing. Cf. Furry v. United States, 712 F.3d 988, 994 (7th Cir. 2013); Morales v. Johnson, 659 F.3d 588, 602 (7th Cir. 2011).”

Affirmed

Full Text

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.