Jacobs v. United States

10 F. Supp. 3d 272, 2014 WL 1305068, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 44095
CourtDistrict Court, D. Connecticut
DecidedApril 1, 2014
DocketNo. 3:07-CV-00044 SRU
StatusPublished

This text of 10 F. Supp. 3d 272 (Jacobs v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Connecticut primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jacobs v. United States, 10 F. Supp. 3d 272, 2014 WL 1305068, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 44095 (D. Conn. 2014).

Opinion

RULING ON MOTION TO VACATE, SET ASIDE, OR CORRECT SENTENCE

STEFAN R. UNDERHILL, District Judge.

Makene Jacobs seeks to vacate, set aside, or correct his sentence pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255. Jacobs is confined at Williamsburg Federal Correctional Institution in Salters, South Carolina. On June 20, 2001, after a ten-day trial, a jury returned a guilty verdict against Jacobs for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 1,000 grams or more of heroin, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 846. On September 26, 2002,1 sentenced him to a mandatory term of life imprisonment. Jacobs appealed on October 1, 2002. On November 2, 2005, the Second Circuit affirmed the judgment of conviction and sen[275]*275tence. United States v. Herredia, 153 Fed.Appx. 50, 55 (2d Cir.2005), cert. denied, 546 U.S. 1224, 126 S.Ct. 1454, 164 L.Ed.2d 151 (2006). On January 9, 2007, Jacobs, appearing pro se, sought collateral relief by filing this motion, which he and court-appointed counsel have supplemented. For the reasons set forth in this ruling, the motion to vacate, set aside, or correct Jacobs’s sentence (doc. # 1) is GRANTED.

I. Background

Jacobs was part of a large drug trafficking ring in the Bridgeport, Connecticut area. On June 20, 2001, a federal grand jury returned a Third Superseding Indictment against numerous defendants, Count Twelve of which charged Jacobs with unlawfully conspiring to possess with intent to distribute 1,000 grams or more of heroin. The jury rendered a verdict of guilty on that charge and, on September 26, 2002,1 sentenced Jacobs to a lifetime term of imprisonment.

Jacobs appealed on October 1, 2002, challenging his conviction and sentence, alleging ineffective assistance of counsel, questioning the fairness of his trial, and challenging the constitutionality of the sentence as well as the court’s consideration of his prior convictions in assessing a life sentence under 21 U.S.C. § 851. He also moved for a remand to this court for an evidentiary hearing to supplement the record on whether he was denied effective assistance of counsel because, among other things, his trial counsel failed to properly investigate and move to suppress $2,407 seized from him and introduced into evidence at trial. On April 30, 2003, the Second Circuit granted his motion. This court conducted a hearing, and in Amended Supplemental Findings denied Jacob’s ineffective assistance of counsel claims. The Second Circuit affirmed the judgment of conviction and sentence on November 2, 2005. Herredia, 153 Fed.Appx. at 55.

On January 9, 2007, Jacobs, appearing pro se, filed a habeas petition in which he again claimed ineffective assistance of counsel, but with respect to a plea offer and counsel’s alleged failures in attempting to establish that his prior convictions were not “prior” and were part of the instant offense of conviction. On January 27, 2010, I appointed Jeffrey Kestenband to represent Jacobs. Kestenband subsequently filed a motion to supplement Jacobs’s claim, alleging that trial counsel had failed to discuss any plea offers with Jacobs and had not fully discussed the consequences of going to trial. Jacobs claimed that he would not have gone to trial had he known about the plea offer. An evidentia-ry hearing took place on March 22, 2010 and, after that hearing, Jacobs filed a supplemental memorandum of law in support of his habeas petition, raised an ineffective assistance of counsel claim relating to the failure of his trial counsel to challenge his underlying convictions, and argued that I should apply the .Second Circuit’s decision in United States v. Savage, 542 F.3d 959 (2d Cir.2008), retroactively and, therefore, vacate the section 851 sentencing enhancement. With respect to his prior claims of ineffective assistance, Jacobs dropped the claims that counsel was ineffective for failing to submit evidence establishing that his prior cocaine conviction was part of the instant heroin conspiracy, and that counsel was ineffective for failing to seek a hearing under 21 U.S.C. § 851(c) prior to trial in order to contest the validity of his prior convictions.

II. Standard of Review

“A prisoner in custody under sentence of a court established by Act of Congress claiming the right to be released upon the ground that the sentence was [276]*276imposed in violation of the Constitution or laws of the United States ... may move the court which imposed the sentence to vacate, set aside or correct the sentence.” 28 U.S.C. § 2255. In general, petitioners who have failed to present a claim on direct appeal may not raise that claim on collateral review absent a showing of cause and prejudice. Yick Man Mui v. United States, 614 F.3d 50, 54 (2d Cir.2010). A petitioner may raise a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, however, even if that claim was not raised previously at trial or on appeal. Massaro v. United States, 538 U.S. 500, 504, 123 S.Ct. 1690, 155 L.Ed.2d 714 (2003); Yick Man Mui 614 F.3d at 57. The main thrust of Jacobs’s claims is that his trial counsel and counsel at sentencing provided ineffective assistance. Those claims are properly before the court and will be decided according to the familiar Sixth Amendment standard governing claims of ineffective assistance of counsel.

To succeed on his ineffective assistance claims, Jacobs must demonstrate (1) that his counsel’s performance “fell below an objective standard of reasonableness,” and (2) “that the deficient performance prejudiced the defense.” Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687-91, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). The mere possibility that a particular deficiency might have prejudiced the defendant is not enough. Rather, “[t]he defendant must show that there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel’s unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different. A reasonable probability is a probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome.” Id. at 694, 104 S.Ct. 2052.

III. Discussion

Jacobs brings three claims against his trial counsel for ineffective assistance of counsel at the pre-trial phase: (1) that counsel failed to inform Jacobs about the government’s plea offer, (2) that counsel was ineffective because he failed to adequately advise Jacobs whether to accept or reject the offer, (3) and that counsel was ineffective because he did not inform Jacobs of the inculpating nature of his defense and trial testimony that he was an independent cocaine distributor.

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Related

United States v. Savage
542 F.3d 959 (Second Circuit, 2008)
United States v. Morrison
449 U.S. 361 (Supreme Court, 1981)
Strickland v. Washington
466 U.S. 668 (Supreme Court, 1984)
Hill v. Lockhart
474 U.S. 52 (Supreme Court, 1985)
Massaro v. United States
538 U.S. 500 (Supreme Court, 2003)
Yick Man Mui v. United States
614 F.3d 50 (Second Circuit, 2010)
Lafler v. Cooper
132 S. Ct. 1376 (Supreme Court, 2012)
Missouri v. Frye
132 S. Ct. 1399 (Supreme Court, 2012)
United States v. Gerald Gordon
156 F.3d 376 (Second Circuit, 1998)
Bernard Cullen v. United States
194 F.3d 401 (Second Circuit, 1999)
Johney Pham v. United States
317 F.3d 178 (Second Circuit, 2003)
United States v. Herredia
153 F. App'x 50 (Second Circuit, 2005)

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Bluebook (online)
10 F. Supp. 3d 272, 2014 WL 1305068, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 44095, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jacobs-v-united-states-ctd-2014.