United States v. Fry

629 F. App'x 823
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedOctober 16, 2015
Docket15-2083
StatusUnpublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 629 F. App'x 823 (United States v. Fry) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Fry, 629 F. App'x 823 (10th Cir. 2015).

Opinion

ORDER DENYING CERTIFICATE OF APPEALABILITY *

TIMOTHY M. TYMKOVICH, Chief Judge.

Lloyd Jonathan Fry, a federal prisoner proceeding pro se, requests a certificate of appealability (COA) to appeal the district court’s denial of his 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion. Fry alleges a number of constitutional violations, but most of those were waived as part of a plea bargain. The ineffective assistance of counsel claim that was not waived lacks merit.

Exercising jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1291 and 2253, we DENY his request for a COA and DISMISS the appeal.

I. Background

Fry and a companion entered a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint near Alamogordo, New Mexico, located about 70 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. As Fry waited in line, a trained Border Patrol canine alerted to the right side of Fry’s motorcycle, which was being towed on a trailer attached to Fry’s vehicle. After moving Fry to a secondary inspection area, agents had the canine again sniff the area. The canine alerted once more, and the agents searched Fry’s vehicle and trailer. The agents discovered firearms, ammunition, two pounds of marijuana, scales, grow lights, drug paraphernalia, and four pipe bombs.

Fry pleaded guilty to the knowing receipt and possession of four pipe bombs in violation of 26 U.S.C. §§ 5841, 5845(a)(8), 5861(d), and 5871. As part of the plea agreement, he waived his right to appeal or collaterally attack his conviction, sentence, or any other aspect of his conviction, “except on the issue of counsel’s ineffective *825 assistance in negotiation or entering this plea or this waiver.” R. at 40. Nevertheless, he later filed a federal habeas petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, claiming that his counsel was ineffective for waiving his rights, “threatening” Fry with a 30-year prison sentence, preventing Fry from telling the judge he had been coerced into accepting the plea, failing to file a motion to suppress evidence, failing to object to a four-level sentencing enhancement, and failing to provide fair and impartial representation. Fry also claimed his conviction violated the Second Amendment. The district court dismissed Fry’s petition on the grounds that most of Fry’s collateral attack of his conviction was barred by the collateral attack waiver in his plea. The district court held that any claims not barred by the waiver failed on the merits.

On appeal, Fry asks us for a COA to appeal the district court’s dismissal of his petition. Fry asserts that the search of his vehicle, his arrest, and his conviction violate the Second and Fourth Amendments. He also claims that his counsel was ineffective for failing to file a suppression motion and for coercing him into signing the plea and waiver.

II. Discussion

We may grant a COA only if the defendant makes a “substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right.” 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2). When determining whether to grant a COA, we ask whether “reasonable jurists could debate whether (or, for that matter, agree that) the petition should have been resolved in a different manner or that the issues presented were adequate to deserve encouragement to proceed further.” Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 483-84, 120 S.Ct. 1595, 146 L.Ed.2d 542 (2000) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted).

“[A] waiver of § 2255 rights in a plea agreement is generally enforceable.” United States v. Cockerham, 237 F.3d 1179, 1181 (10th Cir.2001). A collateral attack waiver is enforceable if: (1) the disputed appeal falls within the scope of the waiver of appellate rights; (2) the defendant knowingly and voluntarily waived his appellate rights; and (3) the enforcement of the waiver would not result in a miscarriage of justice. United States v. Hahn, 359 F.3d 1315, 1325 (10th Cir.2004). A miscarriage of justice occurs (1) where the district court relied on an impermissible factor such as race, (2) where ineffective assistance of counsel in connection with the negotiation of the waiver renders the waiver invalid, (3) where the sentence exceeds the statutory maximum, or (4) where the waiver is , otherwise unlawful. Id. at 1327.

We will “enforce a waiver of § 2255 rights expressly contained in a plea agreement when the collateral attack does not challenge counsel’s representation in negotiating or entering the plea or the waiver.” Cockerham, 237 F.3d at 1187. Accordingly, “a plea agreement waiver of post-conviction rights does not waive the right to bring a § 2255 petition based on ineffective assistance of counsel claims challenging the validity of the plea or the waiver.” Id.

A. Second and Fourth Amendment Claims

We construe Fry’s pleadings liberally, but we do not act as his advocate. Yang v. Archuleta, 525 F.3d 925, 927 n. 1 (10th Cir.2008). Fry’s appellate brief repeatedly argues that his stop, arrest, and conviction violate the Constitution. Specifically, he claims the seizure of his firearms violated the Second and Fourth Amendment. The district court found these claims waived by the plea agreement. Reviewing under the Hahn framework, we *826 agree that these claims are covered by the plea agreement’s waiver provision; and that this provision is enforceable.

First, these claims fall within the broad scope of the waiver provision because they do not concern trial counsel’s ineffectiveness in negotiating the plea.

Hahn next requires that the waiver be made “knowingly and voluntarily.” Hahn, 359 F.3d at 1325. Fry’s appellate brief-construed liberally — appears to argue that his waiver was not made voluntarily because his counsel “coerced” him into signing it. In determining whether a defendant knowingly and voluntarily waived his right to appeal, we look to “whether the language of the plea agreement states that the defendant entered the agreement knowingly and voluntarily,” and whether there was “an adequate

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629 F. App'x 823, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-fry-ca10-2015.