Home/D.C. Circuit/John S. Mitchell v. United States

John S. Mitchell v. United States

254 F.2d 954, 103 U.S. App. D.C. 97, 1958 U.S. App. LEXIS 4139
CourtCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
DecidedApril 10, 1958
Docket14173
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 254 F.2d 954 (John S. Mitchell v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
John S. Mitchell v. United States, 254 F.2d 954, 103 U.S. App. D.C. 97, 1958 U.S. App. LEXIS 4139 (D.C. Cir. 1958).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

The defendant did not appeal from a conviction and sentence under the narcotics laws. It is now too late to do so. He now appeals from denial of a motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 to vacate his sentence.

His present counsel, appointed by the District Court, contends that because trial counsel did not appeal, trial counsel did not give the defendant the “effective assistance” to which he was entitled. The defendant says his trial counsel refused to appeal because the defendant could not pay him a fee. But such a refusal, in the circumstances of this case, is not a ground for vacating the sentence.

It has been said that “failure to appeal may not be excused upon a mere showing of neglect of counsel.” Dennis v *955 United States, 4 Cir., 177 F.2d 195. Perhaps that statement is too broad. We need not now decide whether failure to appeal would be a denial of effective assistance, and would open a conviction to “collateral attack” under § 2255, if there were plain reversible error in the trial. There was no such plain error in this trial.

Affirmed.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Earl Lewis Kent v. United States
423 F.2d 1050 (Fifth Circuit, 1970)
Haines v. People
454 P.2d 595 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1969)
Blanchard v. Bennett
167 N.W.2d 612 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1969)
Gerard Peabody v. United States
394 F.2d 175 (Ninth Circuit, 1968)
Nelson v. State
208 So. 2d 506 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1968)
Hugh E. Maness v. Harold R. Swenson, Warden, Missouri State Penitentiary
385 F.2d 943 (Eighth Circuit, 1967)
Pitts v. North Carolina
267 F. Supp. 870 (M.D. North Carolina, 1967)
Milligan v. State
194 So. 2d 663 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1967)
State v. Maness
408 S.W.2d 15 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1966)
Wood v. Robbins
254 F. Supp. 882 (D. Maine, 1966)
Kelly v. State
411 P.2d 611 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1966)
Tipton v. Commonwealth
398 S.W.2d 493 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976), 1966)
Wood v. State
207 A.2d 398 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1965)
Calvin Fennell v. United States
339 F.2d 920 (Tenth Circuit, 1965)
George C. Desmond v. United States of America, (Two Cases)
333 F.2d 378 (First Circuit, 1964)
Ramsey v. United States
223 F. Supp. 605 (E.D. Tennessee, 1963)
W. C. Dodd v. United States
321 F.2d 240 (Ninth Circuit, 1963)
People v. Kling
19 A.D.2d 750 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1963)
Jesus Rivera v. United States
318 F.2d 606 (Ninth Circuit, 1963)
People v. Coe
36 Misc. 2d 181 (New York County Courts, 1962)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
254 F.2d 954, 103 U.S. App. D.C. 97, 1958 U.S. App. LEXIS 4139, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/john-s-mitchell-v-united-states-cadc-1958.