Daniel Corral v. United States

562 F. App'x 399
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedApril 9, 2014
Docket12-1897
StatusUnpublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 562 F. App'x 399 (Daniel Corral v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Daniel Corral v. United States, 562 F. App'x 399 (6th Cir. 2014).

Opinion

SILER, Circuit Judge.

Petitioner Daniel Corral appeals the district court’s order denying his motion to vacate, set aside, or correct sentence pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255. Corral pleaded guilty in California and Michigan for participating in drug conspiracies that Corral claims to be one and the same. The district court denied Corral’s motion to vacate. Thereafter, we granted him a certificate of appealability (“COA”) on certain issues. We AFFIRM the district court’s holdings that Corral procedurally defaulted his claims of defective sentencing and prosecutorial vindictiveness, as well as its finding that Corral was not denied effective assistance of counsel when his trial counsel failed to file a motion for change of venue. We REVERSE the district court’s decision not to hold an evidentiary hearing, finding that the evidence does not conclusively show that Corral is entitled to no relief, and REMAND for an evidentiary hearing as to his double jeopardy claim and the corresponding ineffective assistance of counsel claim.

BACKGROUND

I. Indictments

Daniel Corral was indicted in both the Central District of California and the Eastern District of Michigan for conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. Corral argues that both indictments were returned because of his role in an ongoing drug conspiracy called the Black Mafia Family (“BMF”), resulting in the indictment of BMF members across the United States.

On November 1, 2007, Corral was indicted in California for conspiracy to distribute *401 a controlled substance in 'violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1), and 841(b)(1)(A). A superseding indictment was returned on June 18, 2008, but Corral’s charges remained the same. The indictment charged that, beginning on an unknown date “and continuing to on or about November 1, 2007, in Los Angeles County ... and elsewhere,” Corral, his co-defendants, “and others known and unknown to the Grand Jury,” conspired to distribute certain amounts of cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin, phencyclidine, and marijuana.

The California indictment alleged overt acts performed by the co-defendants starting in February 2007. According to the indictment, co-defendant Ralph Simms purchased cocaine from Corral. The indictment charged that on July 23, 2007, using coded language in a telephone conversation, Simms told co-defendant De-mond Lee that he had given Corral money to purchase cocaine; and that on August 6, 2007, again using coded language in a telephone conversation, Corral told Simms about money he owed cocaine suppliers for a stolen shipment.

Then, on April 9, 2008, Corral was indicted in Michigan for one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, specifically five kilograms or more of cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1), and 841(b)(l)(A)(ii)(II), and for one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments. A superseding indictment was returned on November 14, 2008, but Corral’s charges remained the same.

As to the first count for conspiracy to distribute cocaine, the Michigan indictment alleged that from on or about January 1, 1990, through the time of the indictment, Corral, his eodefendants, “and others known and unknown to the Grand Jury, including Terry Lee Flenory and Demetrius Edward Flenory,” the alleged leaders of the BMF, conspired to distribute cocaine. The indictment charged that the Flenorys established the drug conspiracy for the purpose of buying and selling cocaine in the Detroit metropolitan area and then extended the organization to other areas of the United States, including Los Angeles, California. The Flenorys then began to refer to their entity as the BMF between 2001 and 2003. According to the indictment, Corral and certain other co-defendants “would facilitate the conspiracy by, inter alia, transporting and/or distributing cocaine, loading and unloading cocaine, counting drug-related currency, processing cocaine and brokering cocaine transactions.”

In the second count for conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, the Michigan indictment alleged that from on or about January 1990 through the time of the indictment, Corral, his co-defendants, and others known and unknown to the Grand Jury, including the Flenorys, conducted financial transactions involving the proceeds from the unlawful activity of the first count for the purpose of carrying on the conspiracy to distribute cocaine.

II. Pleas and Sentencing

In November 2008, Corral agreed to plead guilty in Michigan to both conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments. In exchange for his cooperation in the investigation and prosecution of others involved in the BMF, the government agreed to seek a downward departure from the guideline imprisonment range of 262-327 months to 131-163 months.

During plea negotiations, Corral’s trial counsel claims that he felt there was an overlap in the conspiracies in California and Michigan that violated Corral’s constitutional protection against double jeopardy sufficient to form a basis for filing a mo *402 tion to dismiss the indictment. Counsel says he discussed the matter with the government, but the government said if he litigated the issue, it was not interested in Corral’s cooperation. As a result, counsel advised Corral to forgo the motion and enter the agreement with the government because losing the motion and the benefit of the agreement would result in a more severe punishment. Counsel did not do extensive research on the merits of the double jeopardy motion.

After entering his plea agreement but prior to being sentenced in Michigan, Corral pleaded guilty in California 1 and was sentenced there in December 2010 to 46 months’ imprisonment and five years’ supervised release. Subsequently, in January 2011, the Michigan district court sentenced Corral to 120 months’ imprisonment on each count to run concurrently, followed by five years’ supervised release. The Michigan and California sentences run concurrently.

III. Appeals

Corral moved the district court to vacate, set aside, or correct sentence pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255, arguing that his detention violated his rights under the Fifth and Sixth Amendments. He argued that his conviction violated the Fifth Amendment because he was twice put in jeopardy for the same offense and the Sixth Amendment because his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to raise a challenge to venue and for failing to raise a double jeopardy claim.

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Bluebook (online)
562 F. App'x 399, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/daniel-corral-v-united-states-ca6-2014.