Plea Agreement – Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Fernando Delatorre v. United States of America

Case No.: 15-1632

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

Focus: Plea Agreement – Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

A jury convicted Fernando Delatorre of several felonies. He was sentenced to life in prison, and his conviction and sentence were affirmed on appeal. He then filed a motion to vacate, set aside, or correct his sentence, arguing that (1) the prosecutor committed misconduct by reneging on a promise to provide him with a plea agreement and (2) his pretrial counsel’s performance was constitutionally ineffective. The district court rejected these claims and denied his collateral motion.   Because Delatorre failed to raise the prosecutorial‐ misconduct claim in the district court or on direct appeal, we hold that this claim has been procedurally defaulted. We further hold that Delatorre has failed to meet the cause‐and‐ prejudice standard necessary to overcome procedural de‐ fault. We therefore do not address the merits of that claim. Finally, because Delatorre’s pretrial counsel was not deficient and because Delatorre suffered no prejudice as a result of his counsel’s performance, we reject his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel.

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.