Wyman v. United States

62 F. App'x 364
CourtCourt of Appeals for the First Circuit
DecidedApril 8, 2003
DocketNo. 02-2084
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 62 F. App'x 364 (Wyman v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the First Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wyman v. United States, 62 F. App'x 364 (1st Cir. 2003).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Dennis Wyman appeals from the dismissal of his § 2255 petition as “second or successive” under the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (“AEDPA”). The government has moved for summary dismissal of the appeal for lack of jurisdiction and on the ground that any implicit request for authorization to file a second or successive § 2255 petition should be denied. Construing this notice of appeal as a request for a Certificate of Appealability (COA), we deny it and terminate the appeal.

The claims raised in Wyman’s second § 2255 petition fall into the following three categories: 1) ineffective assistance of appellate counsel claims arising from his reinstated right to appeal (Grounds 1 & 8), 2) ineffective assistance of counsel claims arising out of the disposition of Wyman’s first § 2255 motion (Grounds 4 & 5), and 3) challenges to his guilty plea and sentence which were or could have been raised in his first § 2255 petition (Grounds 2, 3, 6 & 7).

On appeal, Wyman pursues only the first category of claims: his ineffective assistance of appellate counsel claims which arose out of his reinstated right of direct appeal, obtained as a result of his partially successful first § 2255 petition. We address those claims in detail. As to the [366]*366remaining claims, although they appear to be waived, our review suggests that any attempt by Wyman to pursue them on appeal would be unavailing.

Liberally construed, Wyman’s filings with this court make the argument that his ineffective assistance of appellate counsel claims are not “second or successive” under AEDPA. The government’s jurisdictional objection is well taken. An appeal on this basis from the district court’s dismissal of Wyman’s § 2255 petition as second or successive requires a COA. Rather than directing Wyman to seek a COA from the district court first, as is our usual practice, see Local Rule 22.1; Fed. R.App.P. 22(b), we exercise our discretion to treat the notice of appeal as a request to this court for a COA. See United States v. Mitchell, 216 F.3d 1126, 1130 (D.C.Cir.2000).

Under 28 U.S.C. § 2253, Wyman is required to make a “substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right” in order to obtain a COA. Here, the district court denied his § 2255 motion on procedural grounds, without reaching the merits of his constitutional claims. “However, the Supreme Court has held that the statute permits a COA to be granted where a supposed antecedent procedural bar prevented the district court from reaching the constitutional claim—if 1) the soundness of the procedural ruling is debatable, and 2) the constitutional claim is also colorable. Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 484-85, 120 S.Ct. 1595, 146 L.Ed.2d 542 (2000).” Mateo v. United States, 2002 WL 31478779 (1st Cir., Nov.7, 2002).

I. Ineffective Assistance of Appellate Counsel Claims
A. Whether Soundness of Procedural Ruling is Debatable

Wyman can easily satisfy the first prong of this test. This court has recognized certain categories of § 2255 petitions which, although they are numerically second motions attacking the same judgment as an earlier § 2255 motion, do not fall •within the scope of AEDPA’s “second or successive” restrictions. One such category encompasses Wyman’s ineffective assistance of appellate counsel claims: “where the second petition challenges parts of the judgment that arose as the result of the success of an earlier petition.” Id. at 44; see Pratt v. United States, 129 F.3d 54, 62-63 (1st Cir.1997). Wyman’s claims of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel arose out of his direct appeal, which resulted from the partial success of his first § 2255 petition. Therefore, Wyman’s argument that those claims are not “second or successive” under AEDPA appears to have merit. See United States v. Orozco-Ramirez, 211 F.3d 862, 869 (5th Cir.2000). The correctness of the district court’s ruling that Wyman’s ineffective assistance of appellate counsel claims were second or successive is at least “debatable.”

B. Whether Constitutional Claims are Colorable

The second part of the COA test, however, presents a more difficult obstacle for petitioner. We have followed the Seventh Circuit’s approach, “adopting] the view that, if the petitioner’s constitutional claim does not appear utterly without merit after a ‘quick look,’ the COA can be granted and an incorrect procedural barrier removed, the matter then being remanded to give the district court first crack at the constitutional claim.” Mateo, 2002 WL 31478779, at *5. As low as this barrier is, it cannot be surmounted by Wyman’s ineffective assistance of appellate counsel claims. Even a quick look reveals that they are utterly without merit.

Wyman faults his appellate counsel for ignoring certain issues that he asked him [367]*367to raise on appeal. The Supreme Court has recently reiterated that “appellate counsel who files a merits brief need not (and should not) raise every nonfrivolous claim, but rather may select from among them in order to maximize the likelihood of success on appeal.” Smith v. Robbins, 528 U.S. 259, 288, 120 S.Ct. 746, 145 L.Ed.2d 756 (2000). The Court emphasized the difficulty under the current standard of demonstrating that appellate counsel was incompetent for failure to raise a particular claim. Id. That difficulty is manifest here.

Wyman argues that his appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to raise two issues: 1) a challenge to the indictment to which he pled guilty on the ground that the evidence was insufficient to support a conviction on the charged conspiracy offense; 2) ineffective assistance of counsel at the guilty plea stage for failing to advise Wyman that the evidence would not support a conviction of the charges contained in the indictment and, therefore, he should not have pled guilty.

On direct appeal, counsel filed a brief in which he raised two Apprendi issues regarding Wyman’s sentence. The appeal resulted in a reduction in the Wyman’s supervised release term from five to three years. Wyman himself filed a pro se brief in which he argued that the court should have calculated his sentence on the basis of cocaine powder, not cocaine base. The two issues that Wyman argues were ignored by counsel are not “clearly stronger than those presented.” See Smith, 528 U.S. at 288, 120 S.Ct. 746 (quoting Gray v. Greer, 800 F.2d 644, 646 (7th Cir.1986)). To the contrary, the ignored issues appear to be frivolous.

“A defendant who pleads guilty may not later contest the factual and theoretical foundations of the indictment to which he has pled.” United States v. Rivera Ramos,

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Related

Pinillos v. United States
990 F. Supp. 2d 83 (D. Puerto Rico, 2013)
Wyman v. United States
540 U.S. 1075 (Supreme Court, 2003)

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62 F. App'x 364, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wyman-v-united-states-ca1-2003.