United States v. Moses Simmons

Opinion

Case: 17-10262 Date Filed: 09/01/2017 Page: 1 of 2

[DO NOT PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________

No. 17-10262 Non-Argument Calendar ________________________

D.C. Docket No. 4:16-cr-00221-WTM-GRS-1

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff-Appellee,

versus

MOSES SIMMONS, a.k.a. Fam,

Defendant-Appellant.

________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia ________________________

(September 1, 2017)

Before HULL, WILSON and JILL PRYOR, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:

Amy Lee Copeland, appointed counsel for Moses Simmons, has moved to

withdraw from further representation of the appellant and filed a brief pursuant to Case: 17-10262 Date Filed: 09/01/2017 Page: 2 of 2

Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967). Our independent review of the entire

record reveals that counsel’s assessment of the relative merit of the appeal is

correct. Because independent examination of the entire record reveals no arguable

issues of merit, counsel’s motion to withdraw is GRANTED, and Simmons’s

conviction and sentence are AFFIRMED. 1

1 We acknowledge that Simmons expressed dissatisfaction with his prior counsel’s performance leading up to his sentencing and that he might wish to argue that counsel was ineffective in that respect. Such claims, however, generally “are not considered for the first time on direct appeal,” but rather are best reserved for postconviction proceedings. United States v. Tyndale, 209 F.3d 1292, 1294 (11th Cir. 2000); see Massaro v. United States, 538 U.S. 500, 504- 05 (2003). 2