Flood v. United States

867 F. Supp. 2d 539, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 81148, 2012 WL 2114866
CourtDistrict Court, D. Delaware
DecidedJune 11, 2012
DocketCriminal No. 06-125-SLR; Civil No. 09-856-SLR
StatusPublished

This text of 867 F. Supp. 2d 539 (Flood v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Flood v. United States, 867 F. Supp. 2d 539, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 81148, 2012 WL 2114866 (D. Del. 2012).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

SUE L. ROBINSON, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

Teresa M. Flood (“movant”) timely filed a motion to vacate, set aside, or correct-sentence pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (D.I. 88) while in custody at the Federal Prison Camp in Alderson, West Virginia, and then filed an amended § 2255 motion. (D.I. 102) Respondent filed an answer in opposition. (D.I. 114) For the reasons discussed, the court will deny movant’s amended § 2255 motion without holding an evidentiary hearing.

II. BACKGROUND

As set forth by the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit,

[mjovant’s convictions arose out of several schemes in which she participated with Glenny Coleman III, her former boyfriend and the father of her child. The superseding five-count indictment charged her with one count of bank fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2 and 1344, two counts of aggravated identity theft in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2 and 1028A, and two counts of wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2 and 1343. Coleman was charged in a fifteen-count indictment with crimes similar to movant’s. Coleman pled guilty to five counts, and the district court sentenced him to 129 months imprisonment, but movant proceeded to trial to challenge the sufficiency of the evidence against her.
At trial, movant called Coleman, who testified that he had “duped” her and that he was the “con man.” At the end of the trial, the district court, instructed the jury on the charges against movant and the elements necessary to prove those crimes. It also charged the jury with the following “deliberate ignorance” instruction, over movant’s objection:
“The government may prove that movant acted ‘knowingly’ by proving beyond a reasonable doubt, that the-defendant deliberately closed her eyes to what would otherwise have been obvious to her. No one can avoid responsibility for a crime by deliberately ignoring what is obvious. Therefore, a person’s knowledge of a particular fact may be shown from a deliberate or intentional ignorance or deliberate or intentional blindness to the existence of that fact.”
“It is, of course, entirely up to you as to whehter you find any deliberate ignorance or deliberate closing of the eyes and any inferences to be drawn from any such evidence.”
‘You may not conclude that movant had knowledge, however, from proof of a mistake, negligence, carelessness, or a belief in an inaccurate proposition.”
The jury returned a guilty verdict on each of the five counts, finding that movant committed one count of wire fraud by submitting fraudulent information as part of an application for the purchase of [544]*544a car, on which a car dealership relied in approving a loan; that movant aided and abetted Coleman in one count each of bank fraud and aggravated identity theft as part of his plan to obtain a $15,000 loan from Wells Fargo Bank; and that movant aided and abetted Coleman in one count each of bank fraud and aggravated identity theft by participating in Coleman’s scheme to fraudulently obtain a mortgage loan, from which Coleman correspondingly purchased a residential property, through the submission of false identity and employment information on the application.

United States v. Flood, 327 Fed.Appx. 356, 357-58 (3d Cir.2009). At the close of trial, movant filed a motion for acquittal and for a new trial, which the court denied. On June 9, 2008, the court sentenced movant to thirty-six months imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release. She appealed, contending that the court abused its discretion by giving the “deliberate ignorance” instruction. Id. at 358. The Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit rejected movant’s argument and affirmed her convictions and sentences. Id. at 359. Movant filed a petition for writ of certiorari in the United States Supreme Court, which was denied. See Flood v. United States, — U.S. —, 130 S.Ct. 223, 175 L.Ed.2d 154 (2009).

Thereafter, movant filed a document in this court titled “complaint for declaratory judgment and injunctive relief.” (D.I. 88) The court construed the complaint as a motion to vacate, set aside, or correct sentence pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255, notified movant of this re-characterization, and provided movant with an AEDPA election form to indicate if she wanted to proceed with her case under § 2255. Movant filed her AEDPA election form stating that she wished to proceed with her complaint as a § 2255 motion, and that she intended to file an amended § 2255 motion including all of her claims. After movant filed her amended § 2255 motion, the government filed a brief in opposition. Movant then filed a reply, as well as a motion for summary judgment.

III. DISCUSSION

Movant’s amended § 2255 motion asserts three claims: (1) there was insufficient evidence to support the jury’s verdict; (2) trial counsel provided ineffective assistance during her pre-trial review and trial presentation of a videotaped interview that movant conducted with law enforcement officers about two weeks after her arrest; and (3) trial counsel failed to prepare adequately for trial, or to present movant’s defense adequately at trial. The court will address these claims in seriatim.

A. Claim One: Insufficient Evidence

Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255, a federal prisoner may move the sentencing court to vacate, set aside, or correct her sentence on the grounds that

the sentence was imposed in violation of the Constitution or laws of the United States, or that the court was without jurisdiction to impose such sentence, or that the sentence was in excess of the maximum authorized by law, or is otherwise subject to collateral attack.

28 U.S.C. § 2255. However, “[ojnce a legal argument has been litigated and decided adversely to a criminal defendant at his trial and on direct appeal, it is within the discretion of the district court to decline to reconsider those arguments if raised again in collateral proceedings under 28 U.S.C. § 2255.” United States v. Orejuela, 639 F.2d 1055, 1057 (3d Cir.1981).

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867 F. Supp. 2d 539, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 81148, 2012 WL 2114866, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/flood-v-united-states-ded-2012.