Most of the time, a direct appeal will expose a defense lawyer’s errors. But it’s hard to see them because too often they are disguised as errors made by the court. If you want to find good ineffective assistance of counsel (IAC) claims, slow down and look at the direct appeal. It will tell you…
There’s no argument that having to register as a sex offender causes a severe burden on someone. But does that burden equate to that person being in custody for federal habeas corpus purposes? The federal courts of appeals are divided over this question, and now it has landed before the Supreme Court. Will they settle…
Any allegation that a judge was involved in the plea negotiations is very serious. It suggests the judge may have gone outside the bounds of proper judicial conduct by making or saying inappropriate things during the plea-bargaining process. Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11 (Rule 11) lays out the procedural requirements for accepting guilty pleas,…
It is well established that once the one-year deadline is up for a movant filing to vacate their conviction in federal court under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, no new claims can be raised unless they “relate back” to the original claims in the motion. However, this rule is liberally applied to pro se litigants, and…
It’s been said that a prosecutor could convince a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich, and this case proves that a cop could similarly convince a judge to grant a search warrant without any probable cause. Thankfully, a federal judge put a stop to it, although a bit too late. The Cops Came Knocking…
Even though a federal court upheld a prisoner’s life sentence for a RICO murder conviction, it still granted postconviction relief and vacated two illegal convictions for use of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, in light of some recent Supreme Court decisions. Delroy Lee was convicted by a jury of numerous federal…
A federal court has held that a person who is a felon still has the right to argue self-defense with a firearm, despite the fact that he is a convicted felon who cannot possess a firearm under federal law. The court’s decision overturned the lower court’s conclusion that a felon doesn’t have the right to…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that a man with a sagging sweatshirt acting suspiciously was not enough for “reasonable suspicion” to allow an arrest, agreeing that the evidence in the case should have been suppressed and vacated the conviction. He was thought to be a robbery suspect by a man…
Here are some favorable cases in the federal courts this last week of August that may help out some people in federal prison. United States v. Thomas-Mathews, No. 21-1824, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 22464 (6th Cir. Aug. 25, 2023) Some judges can’t get out of the erroneous “crack is worse” way of thinking that got…
Quite an active week for 2255 motions! Here’s a rundown of some cases I found that could be helpful to those seeking relief from wrongful convictions and sentences. As always, hit me up if you want to talk about pursuing relief. I’ve got a ton of info on postconviction relief from my books that I…
