United States v. Bryan Behrens

570 F. App'x 630

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
• Decided: September 5, 2014
• Docket: 14-1004
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Bryan Behrens, whose sentence on a securities-fraud conviction we affirmed, see United States v. Behrens, 713 F.3d 926, 927 (8th Cir.2013), appeals the district court’s 1 order denying 28 U.S.C. § 2255 relief without an evidentiary hearing. In his motion, Behrens claimed his criminal conviction was void based on an alleged lack of subject matter jurisdiction in light of an order entered in a prior civil proceeding. He also claimed his counsel was ineffective for failing to raise the issue. Because Behren’s subject-matter-jurisdiction and related ineffective-assistance claims are meritless, see United States v. White Horse, 316 F.3d 769, 772 (8th Cir. 2003) (subject matter jurisdiction established by 18 U.S.C. § 3231); Rodriguez v. United States, 17 F.3d 225, 226 (8th Cir. 1994) (per curiam) (counsel’s failure to advance meritless argument cannot constitute ineffective assistance), we affirm.

1 . The Honorable Lyle E. Strom, United States District Judge for the District of Nebraska.