UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
Tenth Circuit
Byron White United States Courthouse
1823 Stout Street
Denver, Colorado 80294
(303) 844-3157
Patrick J. Fisher, Jr. Elisabeth A. Shumaker
Clerk Chief Deputy Clerk
September 30, 1996
TO: All recipients of the captioned order and judgment
RE: 96-6056 U.S. v. Massey
September 20, 1996
Please be advised of the following correction to the captioned decision:
Due to technical difficulties, the last two lines of text on page one repeated on the
first two lines of page two. Please make the appropriate correction.
Very truly yours,
Patrick Fisher, Clerk
Susan Tidwell
Deputy Clerk
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
Filed 9/20/96
TENTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee, No. 96-6056
v. W.D. Oklahoma
VON D. MASSEY, SR., (D.C. No. CIV-95-1484-A)
Defendant - Appellant.
ORDER AND JUDGMENT*
Before ANDERSON, BARRETT, and MURPHY, Circuit Judges.
After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined
unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist the determination of this
appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34 (a); 10th Cir. R. 34.1.9. This cause is therefore ordered
submitted without oral argument.
Von Dale Massey appeals the district court’s denial of his motion to vacate, set
aside, or correct sentence pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255. Mr. Massey was convicted of
*
This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines of
law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. The court generally disfavors the
citation of orders and judgments; nevertheless, an order and judgment may be cited under
the terms and conditions of 10th Cir. R. 36.3.
one count of conspiracy to defraud, eight counts of mail fraud, and one count of money
laundering. The district court sentenced him to serve fifty-seven months concurrently on
all counts. He appealed his conviction and sentence on a number of bases, all of which
were rejected by this court in United States v. Massey, 48 F.3d 1560 (10th Cir.), cert.
denied, ___ U.S. ___, 115 S.Ct. 2628 (1995). Mr. Massey then filed this section 2255
motion contending that: (1) the sentence enhancement for perjury pursuant to U.S.S.G.
§ 3C1.1 is invalid because the court failed to make specific findings regarding what
testimony was false, whether the false testimony was material, and whether Mr. Massey
acted willfully; and (2) the offense level for fraud adjusted upward pursuant to U.S.S.G.
§ 2F1.1 is improper because the court made an inaccurate loss calculation which resulted
in disparate sentencing between Mr. Massey and his codefendant. We deny the
application for a certificate of appealability and dismiss the appeal.
As for Mr. Massey’s disparate sentencing argument, this argument was made on
his direct appeal and decided adversely to him. Massey, 48 F.3d at 1571. Accordingly,
Mr. Massey may not raise this issue again under section 2255. United States v. Warner,
23 F.3d 287, 291 (10th Cir. 1994); United States v. Allen, 16 F.3d 377, 378 (10th Cir.
1994) (citations omitted). Mr. Massey’s remaining claims would be procedurally barred
for failure to raise them on direct appeal, see United States v. Cox , 83 F.3d 336, 341
(10th Cir. 1996), but for his allegation in his section 2255 motion that he did not assert
them on direct appeal due to the ineffective assistance of appellate counsel. See United
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States v. Galloway , 56 F.3d 1239, 1241 (10th Cir. 1995). We, therefore, reach the merits
of his ineffective assistance of counsel claim.
To establish ineffective assistance of counsel, a petitioner must show that
counsel’s performance fell below an objective standard of reasonableness and that
counsel’s inadequate performance was prejudicial. Strickland v. Washington , 466 U.S.
668, 687, 691 (1984); United States v. Cook, 49 F.3d 663, 665 (10th Cir. 1995). If we
conclude that Mr. Massey has failed to prove prejudice, then we need not review
appellate counsel’s performance. See id. at 697; United States v. Haddock, 12 F.3d 950,
955 (10th Cir. 1993). In order to prove prejudice, a petitioner must show that “there is a
reasonable probability that, but for counsel’s unprofessional errors, the result of the
proceeding would have been different.” See id. at 694. “A reasonable probability is a
probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome.” Id. at 694.
After carefully reviewing the record in this case, we conclude that there is not a
reasonable probability that Mr. Massey’s sentence would have been different and our
confidence in his sentence is not undermined.1 Therefore, Mr. Massey has failed to make
a showing of prejudice to support his ineffective assistance of counsel claim.
We conclude that Mr. Massey has failed to make “a substantial showing of the
denial of a constitutional right.” Antiterrorist and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996,
1
Indeed, in addressing this section 2255 motion the district court, in making even
clearer what it considered obvious before as to Mr. Massey’s perjury, stated that
“resentencing would be fatuous,” i.e. the result would be the same.
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Pub. L. No. 104-132, tit.1, § 102, § 103, 110 Stat. 1214 (1996) (to be codified at 28
U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(A), Fed. R. App. P. 22(b)). Accordingly, we DENY the application
for a certificate of appealability and DISMISS the appeal.
ENTERED FOR THE COURT
Stephen H. Anderson
Circuit Judge
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