Taylor v. United States

822 F.3d 84, 2016 WL 2783449
Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit·Decided May 13, 2016·No. Docket No. 15-827·Published·Cited by 10 cases

Opinion

KATZMANN, Chief Judge:

The Criminal Justice Act (“CJA”), 18 U.S.C. § 3006A, entitles financially eligible defendants to the assistance of counsel when petitioning for a writ of certiorari. In Nnebe v. United States, we held that the “unusual remedy” of recalling a mandate is available when counsel appointed under the CJA interferes with that right by “promis[ing] to file a certiorari petition, but failing] to do so.” 534 F.3d 87, 88, 91 (2d Cir.2008). Recalling the mandate allows us to reenter judgment in the direct appeal and, thus, restart the clock for filing a petition so that the defendant may timely seek relief.

This case requires us to determine whether the same remedy is available when CJA counsel fails to timely inform a defendant that his conviction has been affirmed and thereby deprives the defendant of an opportunity to petition for rehearing or rehearing en bane. We conclude that it [87]*87is, but that appellant Javel Taylor has not established his entitlement to such relief at this stage. Because, however, Taylor has not had an opportunity below to substantiate his allegations, we remand for further factual development.

BACKGROUND

On December 1, 2011, a jury convicted Taylor of one count of conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(b)(1)(C) and 846 and one count of distributing crack cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(C). The district court sentenced Taylor to 84 months’ imprisonment. Taylor, with the assistance of counsel appointed under the CJA, timely appealed. On October 21, 2013, we affirmed his conviction and sentence by summary order. See United States v. Fitzgerald, 542 Fed.Appx. 30, 31 (2d Cir.2013). The mandate issued on November 14, 2013.

On January 7, 2014, less than three months later, Taylor filed a pro se motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 to vacate his conviction and sentence. Of particular relevance here, Taylor argued that his counsel provided ineffective assistance of counsel by failing to timely notify Taylor that his appeal had been decided, which had the effect of depriving Taylor of an opportunity to petition for rehearing and rehearing en banc. Taylor alleged that he first learned that his appeal had been decided from a “paralegal service” a month after the decision had been rendered and, thus, past the fourteen-day period during which a petition may be filed. See Fed. R.App. P. 35(c) & 40(a).

The district court denied Taylor’s motion. The court assumed, arguendo, that the Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel applies to petitions for rehearing and rehearing en banc, but held that Taylor had not established that he suffered any prejudice from his inability to petition since “it is highly unlikely that a petition for rehearing or rehearing en banc would have been granted” and Taylor had “identified no issue that the Second Circuit panel incorrectly decided.” App. at 10. Given this disposition, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Paul G. Gardephe, Judge) declined to hold an evidentiary hearing to allow Taylor to offer proof of his allegations. The district court also denied Taylor a certificate of appealability.

Taylor then moved pro se in this Court for a certificate of appealability. We granted the motion with respect to a single issue: “whether Appellant is entitled to relief pursuant to Nnebe v. United States, 534 F.3d 87, 89-92 (2d Cir.2008), on his claim that his attorney, who was appointed under the Criminal Justice Act, failed to timely inform Appellant of this Court’s adverse decision on direct appeal, thus causing Appellant to lose his opportunity to petition for rehearing or rehearing en banc.” App. at 26. We also directed the Clerk’s Office to appoint new CJA counsel to represent Taylor in this limited appeal.

DISCUSSION

On appeal, and now with the assistance of counsel, Taylor urges us to construe his appeal of the district court’s judgment as a motion to recall the mandate in his direct appeal and to vacate our original judgment and reenter judgment. Doing so would allow Taylor an opportunity to timely seek rehearing.

We resolve Taylor’s request for relief in three steps. The first two are of general application. First, we determine that the CJA affords financially eligible defendants the right to representation when petitioning for rehearing and rehearing en banc. Second, we conclude that the remedy of [88]*88recalling the mandate is available when counsel appointed under the CJA fails to provide such assistance. Having resolved these two issues in Taylor’s favor, we address a third question, in particular, whether Taylor has established his entitlement to relief here. On this final issue, we conclude that Taylor has not yet had an opportunity to offer proof of his allegations and, accordingly, we remand for further proceedings.

I.

We begin by addressing the scope of representation under the CJA. “[T]he CJA establishes the broad institutional framework for appointing counsel for a criminal defendant who is financially unable to obtain representation.” United States v. Parker, 439 F.3d 81, 91 (2d Cir. 2006). Defendants eligible to receive CJA counsel are entitled to representation in a broad range of proceedings, including, for example, when charged with a violation of supervised release, 18 U.S.C. § 3006A(a)(l)(E), when held in custody as a material witness, id. § 3006A(a)(l)(G), and when, as here, facing a felony charge, id. § 3006A(a)(l)(A). The CJA further provides that defendants who are entitled to counsel “shall be represented at every stage of the proceedings from his initial appearance before the United States magistrate judge or the [district] court through appeal, including ancillary matters appropriate to the proceedings.” Id. § 3006A(c). When a defendant “appeals to an appellate court or petitions for a writ of certiorari, he may do so without prepayment of fees and costs or security therefor.” Id. § 3006A(d)(7).

It is now settled that these provisions guarantee eligible defendants the right to representation when seeking a writ of cer-tiorari from the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has twice granted late-filed pro se petitions for certiorari and remanded for further proceedings when a defendant’s CJA counsel, without adequate justification, failed to assist in the filing of a timely petition. See Wilkins v. United States, 441 U.S.

Taylor v. United States, 822 F.3d 84, 2016 WL 2783449 (2d Cir. 2016).

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