Dickerson v. United States

2002 DNH 192

• Court: District Court, D. New Hampshire
• Decided: October 28, 2002
• Docket: CV-02-296-M
• Status: Published

Opinion

Dickerson v . United States CV-02-296-M 10/28/02 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

DISTRICT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

Tyrone Dickerson, Petitioner

v. Civil N o . 02-296-M Opinion N o . 2002 DNH 192 United States of America, Respondent

O R D E R

Petitioner, Tyrone Dickerson, seeks habeas relief under

28 U.S.C. § 2255. He was convicted by a jury of possessing a

controlled substance (crack cocaine) with the intent to

distribute i t , in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). His

conviction was affirmed on appeal. See United States v .

Dickerson, N o . 00-2500, slip o p . (1st Cir. June 2 1 , 2001).

In his petition, Dickerson argues that the jury did not

necessarily convict him of possessing crack (as opposed to

powder) cocaine, and that his counsel provided ineffective

assistance i n , essentially, failing to advocate for a guideline

sentencing range based upon possession with intent to distribute

powder rather than crack cocaine. The petition is without merit.

The jury convicted Dickerson of possessing crack cocaine

with the intent to distribute i t . The substance at issue was positively identified by a testifying chemist (Mr. Hartman) as

crack (“I determined it to be crack cocaine.”), and all the

evidence presented was more than sufficient to support the jury’s

verdict. See Id. Petitioner was properly sentenced based upon

the allocable drug quantities, which resulted in a mandatory

minimum sentence of 120 months in prison. Counsel hardly

rendered ineffective assistance, since he made no errors that

adversely affected any of petitioner’s substantial rights and the

representation provided fell well above the standard of

reasonable effective assistance. See e.g., Gonzalez-Soberal v .

United States, 244 F.3d 273, 277 (1st Cir. 2001) (citing

Strickland v . Washington, 466 U.S. 6 6 8 , 687 (1984).

Because the motion and the files and the records of the case

conclusively show that the petitioner is entitled to no relief,

the petition is denied and the case dismissed.

SO ORDERED.

Steven J. McAuliffe United States District Judge

October 2 8 , 2002

cc: Tyrone Dickeron, pro se Peter E . Papps, Esq.