United States v. Chisolm

UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,  Plaintiff-Appellee, v.  No. 01-6992 HENRY WESLEY CHISOLM, Defendant-Appellant.  Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at Rock Hill. Joseph F. Anderson, Jr., Chief District Judge. (CA-01-3-0) Submitted: October 31, 2001 Decided: November 28, 2001 Before WILKINS, MOTZ, and GREGORY, Circuit Judges. Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion. COUNSEL Henry Wesley Chisolm, Appellant Pro Se. Marshall Prince, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Columbia, South Caro- lina, for Appellee. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See Local Rule 36(c). 2 UNITED STATES v. CHISOLM OPINION PER CURIAM: Henry Wesley Chisolm appeals the district court’s order denying his motion filed under 28 U.S.C.A. § 2255 (West Supp. 2001). Find- ing no reversible error, we dismiss the appeal. In his motion, Chisolm contended his counsel was ineffective in several respects. We have reviewed the record and the district court’s opinion considering this claim and find no reversible error. Chisolm also contends, for the first time on appeal, that his sen- tence violates Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (2000), and that his counsel was ineffective for failing to note the violation. Because Chisolm failed to raise these claims in the district court and does not demonstrate exceptional circumstances, we decline to address them. See Muth v. United States, 1 F.3d 246, 250 (4th Cir. 1993); First Va. Banks, Inc. v. BP Exploration & Oil, Inc., 206 F.3d 404, 407 n.1 (4th Cir. 2000).* Accordingly, we deny a certificate of appealability and dismiss the appeal substantially on the reasoning of the district court. See United States v. Chisolm, No. CA-01-3-0 (D.S.C. Apr. 18, 2001). We dis- pense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before the court and argument would not aid the decisional process. DISMISSED *Moreover, had Chisolm’s Apprendi claim been raised below, it would still fail, as his 100 month sentence did not exceed the applicable statu- tory maximum and he could not properly raise the claim initially on col- lateral review. See United States v. Promise, 255 F.3d 150, 156 (4th Cir. 2001) (en banc) (holding statutory maximum is twenty years when drug quantity is not charged as element of offense and found by jury beyond a reasonable doubt); see also United States v. Sanders, 247 F.3d 139 (4th Cir. 2001) (holding Supreme Court has not yet made Apprendi retroac- tive to cases on collateral review).