United States v. Allen

The Fifth Circuit previously granted a certificate of appealability (COA) to defendant on two claims—first, that the government breached its obligations under his plea agreement when it failed to credit his cooperation in a murder conviction, and second, that defendant received ineffective assistance of counsel due to his attorney's failure to object to the government's breach of his plea agreement.In this appeal, the court held that the district court should have held an evidentiary hearing on defendant's ineffective assistance of counsel claim. The court held that an evidentiary hearing was needed before it could decide whether defendant's representation was constitutionally deficient, based on the failure to inform the court of his cooperation in the murder investigation. Accordingly, the court vacated and remanded for a limited evidentiary inquiry. View "United States v. Allen" on Justia Law