Joseph E. Wilkins v. United States

D.C. Circuit

Joseph E. Wilkins v. United States

258 F.2d 416

CourtCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit

DecidedMay 21, 1958

Docket13850_1

StatusPublished

Cited by26 cases

This text of 258 F.2d 416 (Joseph E. Wilkins 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.

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Joseph E. Wilkins v. United States, 258 F.2d 416 (D.C. Cir. 1958).

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PRETTYMAN, Circuit Judge.

Appellant was indicted for violation of the narcotics laws. At trial he withdrew his original plea of not guilty and entered a plea of guilty to two counts of a seven-count indictment. These two counts involved the sale, and the remaining counts the possession, of narcotics. Appellant was sentenced on June 18, 1954. Two and a half years later, on February 13, 1957, he filed a motion to vacate sentence pursuant to Section 2255, Title 28, of the United States Code, alleging that through “subterfuge” of dilatory and ineffective counsel he had been induced to plead guilty, even though the facts established an illegal arrest and an illegal search and seizure. The trial judge denied the motion without a hearing. We are now to determine whether appellant was entitled to a hearing on his motion.

The legality of the arrest, as we shall see in a moment, is immaterial, as it was not the basis for the search. It is established that a search and seizure may not be attacked under Section 2255.¹ [417]*417The thrust of appellant’s motion, however, is that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel, in that his trial counsel knew of the alleged illegal search and seizure but nevertheless induced him to plead guilty. The allegation of “subterfuge” is directed to what appellant now, two and a half years after conviction, conceives to have been poor legal advice. The allegation is postured in no other factual background.

It appears from the record that a valid search warrant had been issued for the premises where appellant was apprehended and arrested, and the return on the warrant showed the seizure of narcotics and equipment. Further, as trial counsel was undoubtedly aware, if a motion to suppress had been made, appellant would have had to admit possession of the narcotics. The fact that five of the seven counts were dropped indicated that counsel’s advice wrns not wholly without benefit to appellant.

Where a petitioner fails utterly to substantiate with facts his bare allegation of “subterfuge”, this court will not order a hearing on a motion under Section 2255. Judge Washington, writing for this court in Martin v. United States,² said:

“Appellant is now serving a term of imprisonment for violations of the narcotics laws. 21 U.S.C. § 174 (1952), 26 U.S.C § 4704(a), § 4705 (a), § 7237(a) (Supp. IV, 1957). He took no appeal from the judgment of conviction. His first claim of error here, as presented by his counsel, is that he was denied a hearing on his allegation — contained in his petition under Section 2255— that he did not receive the effective assistance of counsel at his trial, in that he asked his then attorney to make a motion to suppress certain evidence (narcotics) seized in his house, and the attorney refused. We think this allegation insufficient to require a hearing. Trial counsel may have decided that to make such a motion would have admitted appellant’s ownership or possession of the narcotics. See Accardo v. United States, 1957, 101 U.S.App.D.C. 162, 247 F.2d 568. Or he may have thought that the seizure was proper and that the motion would properly have been denied. Where it does not appear that the motion could have had a significant effect upon the outcome of the trial, it seems fruitless to conduct an investigation of what counsel did or did not have in mind when he declined to make the motion. If such a motion had been made and denied by the District Court, the propriety of the denial could not now be examined in a proceeding under Section 2255. See White v. United States, 1956, 98 U.S.App.D.C. 274, 235 F.2d 221, and cases cited.”

The order of the District Court is Affirmed.

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PRETTYMAN, Circuit Judge.

Appellant was indicted for violation of the narcotics laws. At trial he withdrew his original plea of not guilty and entered a plea of guilty to two counts of a seven-count indictment. These two counts involved the sale, and the remaining counts the possession, of narcotics. Appellant was sentenced on June 18, 1954. Two and a half years later, on February 13, 1957, he filed a motion to vacate sentence pursuant to Section 2255, Title 28, of the United States Code, alleging that through “subterfuge” of dilatory and ineffective counsel he had been induced to plead guilty, even though the facts established an illegal arrest and an illegal search and seizure. The trial judge denied the motion without a hearing. We are now to determine whether appellant was entitled to a hearing on his motion.

The legality of the arrest, as we shall see in a moment, is immaterial, as it was not the basis for the search. It is established that a search and seizure may not be attacked under Section 2255.¹ [417]*417The thrust of appellant’s motion, however, is that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel, in that his trial counsel knew of the alleged illegal search and seizure but nevertheless induced him to plead guilty. The allegation of “subterfuge” is directed to what appellant now, two and a half years after conviction, conceives to have been poor legal advice. The allegation is postured in no other factual background.

It appears from the record that a valid search warrant had been issued for the premises where appellant was apprehended and arrested, and the return on the warrant showed the seizure of narcotics and equipment. Further, as trial counsel was undoubtedly aware, if a motion to suppress had been made, appellant would have had to admit possession of the narcotics. The fact that five of the seven counts were dropped indicated that counsel’s advice wrns not wholly without benefit to appellant.

Where a petitioner fails utterly to substantiate with facts his bare allegation of “subterfuge”, this court will not order a hearing on a motion under Section 2255. Judge Washington, writing for this court in Martin v. United States,² said:

“Appellant is now serving a term of imprisonment for violations of the narcotics laws. 21 U.S.C. § 174 (1952), 26 U.S.C § 4704(a), § 4705 (a), § 7237(a) (Supp. IV, 1957). He took no appeal from the judgment of conviction. His first claim of error here, as presented by his counsel, is that he was denied a hearing on his allegation — contained in his petition under Section 2255— that he did not receive the effective assistance of counsel at his trial, in that he asked his then attorney to make a motion to suppress certain evidence (narcotics) seized in his house, and the attorney refused. We think this allegation insufficient to require a hearing. Trial counsel may have decided that to make such a motion would have admitted appellant’s ownership or possession of the narcotics. See Accardo v. United States, 1957, 101 U.S.App.D.C. 162, 247 F.2d 568. Or he may have thought that the seizure was proper and that the motion would properly have been denied. Where it does not appear that the motion could have had a significant effect upon the outcome of the trial, it seems fruitless to conduct an investigation of what counsel did or did not have in mind when he declined to make the motion. If such a motion had been made and denied by the District Court, the propriety of the denial could not now be examined in a proceeding under Section 2255. See White v. United States, 1956, 98 U.S.App.D.C. 274, 235 F.2d 221, and cases cited.”

The order of the District Court is Affirmed.

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