Mitchell v. United States

934 F. Supp. 2d 661, 2013 WL 1277860, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 44014
District Court, D. Delaware·Decided March 27, 2013·No. Crim. No. 08-23-SLR; Civ. No. 10-65-SLR·Published

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

SUE L. ROBINSON, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

Clarence Mitchell (“movant”) is a federal inmate currently confined at the Federal Medical Center Devens, in Ayer, Massachusetts. Movant timely filed a motion to vacate, set aside, or correct sentence pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255. (D.I. 71; D.I. 77) Respondent filed an answer in opposition (D.I. 83), to which movant filed a response (D.I. 89). Movant also filed multiple supplements to his § 2255 motion. (D.I. 95; D.I. 99; D.I. 102) For the reasons discussed, the court will deny movant’s § 2255 motion without holding an evidentiary hearing.

II. BACKGROUND

Wilmington Police Department (“WPD”) Detectives Todd Riley and Robert Cunningham conducted a ten-week undercover investigation of movant. United States v. Mitchell, 350 Fed.Appx. 763 (3d Cir.2009). On five separate occasions, an informant made controlled purchases of crack cocaine from movant. Following each purchase, members of the WPD covertly tailed movant in an effort to establish his residence. Id. After the third controlled purchase, officers followed movant, and he eventually drove to the residence at 3411 North Franklin Place. Officers observed movant enter the residence during subsequent surveillance. Id.

After the fifth controlled purchase, Detectives Riley and Cunningham applied for, and obtained, a search warrant for the residence at 3411 North Franklin Place. Id. On the morning of December 27, 2007, Detectives Riley and Cunningham, and approximately ten to twelve other officers, executed the search warrant and recovered approximately 4.5 ounces of cocaine; drug packing paraphernalia, including three plastic bags with a white powdery residue and small plastic bags commonly used for packaging crack cocaine; approximately $6,415 in cash; and, underneath the mattress, a loaded .357 Sig Sauer firearm. Id. at 765.

After his arrest, movant gave two statements to law enforcement, both of which were videotaped and audio recorded. These statements were made after movant knowingly waived his Miranda rights twice — once at his home, and a second time at the police station. (D.I. 183 at 2) Movant indicated that the .357 Sig Sauer found underneath his bed was his firearm, and that he bought it “on the street” about “three months” prior to his arrest. In particular, movant stated that he paid “two fifty” to some “Philly boys” who were coming “through the block” on Seventh Street. Id.

On February 5, 2008, a federal grand jury indicted movant on three counts: (1) possession of a firearm by a person prohibited, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) [665] & 924(a)(2); (2) possession with intent to distribute cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) & (b)(1)(C); and (3) possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, in violation of 18 U.S.C: §§ 924(c)(1)(A) and (c)(2).

On May 9, 2008, movant filed an amended motion to suppress evidence and statements, which the court denied on July 30, 2008, 2008 WL 2942142. A two-day jury trial commenced on October 29, 2008. At the close of the government’s evidence, movant filed a Rule 29 motion for judgment of acquittal; the court reserved judgment. After movant’s case-in-chief, the jury deliberated and found movant guilty on counts two and three. Movant renewed his Rule 29 motion, which the court denied. Movant subsequently pled guilty to count one of the indictment.

The court sentenced movant to twenty-four months of imprisonment for counts one and two, and to sixty months of imprisonment on count three, to be served consecutively. Movant appealed, alleging that the district court erred in denying his amended motion to suppress and in denying his Rule 29 motion for judgment of acquittal. The Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed movant’s convictions. See Mitchell, 350 Fed.Appx. 763.

III. DISCUSSION

Movant timely filed his motion to vacate, set aside, or correct sentence pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255. The arguments asserted in the § 2255 motion fall into one of the following two types of claims: (1) ineffective assistance of counsel; and (2) prosecutorial misconduct.

A. Claim One: Ineffective Assistance Of Counsel

Movant has properly raised his ineffective assistance of counsel argument in the instant § 2255 motion rather than on direct appeal,1 and the court must review the argument' pursuant to the two-pronged standard set forth in Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). Under the first Strickland prong, movant must demonstrate that “counsel’s representation fell below an objective standard of reasonableness,” with- reasonableness being judged under professional norms prevailing at -the time counsel rendered assistance. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 688, 104 S.Ct. 2052. Under the second Strickland prong, movant must demonstrate “there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel’s error the result would have been different.” Id. at 687-96, 104 S.Ct. 2052. Additionally, in order to sustain an ineffective assistance of counsel claim, movant must make concrete allegations of actual prejudice and substantiate them or risk summary dismissal. See Wells v. Petsock, 941 F.2d 253, 259-60 (3d Cir.1991); Dooley v. Petsock, 816 F.2d 885, 891-92 (3d Cir.1987). Although not insurmountable, the Strickland standard is highly demanding and leads to a “strong presumption that the representation was professionally reasonable.” Strickland, 466 U.S. at 689, 104 S.Ct. 2052.

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Mitchell v. United States, 934 F. Supp. 2d 661, 2013 WL 1277860, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 44014 (D. Del. 2013).

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