No. 96-6190, U.S. v. Johnson
Attachment (lower court order) not available electronically.
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
Filed 1/2/97
TENTH CIRCUIT
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v. No. 96-6190
(D.C. No. CIV-96-199)
MARION JOHNSON, (W.D. Oklahoma)
Defendant-Appellant.
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ORDER AND JUDGMENT *
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Before BRORBY, EBEL and KELLY, Circuit Judges.
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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. The case is therefore
ordered submitted without oral argument.
*
This order and judgment is not binding precedent except under the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.
Ms. Johnson was convicted of twenty-five drug related crimes and
unsuccessfully appealed to this court. See United States v. Johnson, 911 F.2d
1394 (10th Cir. 1990). Ms. Johnson then filed a pro se motion to correct her
sentence alleging the sentencing court erred "in incorporating the mandatory
minimum sentence" and arguing she should have been granted parole. This was
treated as a 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (1994) motion and was denied.
Approximately two years later Ms. Johnson again filed a pro se § 2255
motion raising five issues: (1) the minimum mandatory sentence did not apply to
her offenses; (2) the sentencing court erred in calculating her base level offense
using the entire quantity of drugs distributed over the course of the conspiracy;
(3) the sentencing court erroneously imposed a sentence of supervised release; (4)
her due process rights were violated when the government estimated the cutting
agent without testing the drug for purity; and (5) ineffective assistance of counsel.
The district court found Ms. Johnson's first assertion (her sentence should
not contain the mandatory minimum) barred as successive and the remaining
issues barred as she failed to raise those issues on direct appeal and has not
presented sufficient evidence to overcome the procedural bar. We attach a copy
of the trial court's eight-page order.
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The district court also concluded:
Defendant fails to show that counsel's performance was
deficient and that she was prejudiced as a result. Although her
substantive claim for ineffective assistance of counsel is not barred
by her failure to raise the issue on direct appeal, the court has
determined that these claims lack merit. Accordingly, her
substantive claim for ineffective assistance is denied and the above
claims are procedurally barred.
We must first address the question of whether to grant a Certificate of
Appealability. Pursuant to the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of
1996, a certificate of appealability is required to appeal a denial of a motion filed
pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255. The district court entered an order denying Ms.
Johnson a certificate of appealability concluding she had failed to make a
substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right. We agree with the
district court.
We deny Ms. Johnson a certificate of appealability. Ms. Johnson's first
four claims are either abusive or successive and she has failed to show cause and
prejudice for her failure to raise them either on direct appeal or in her first § 2255
motion. Additionally, Ms. Johnson has failed to make an adequate showing of
actual innocence. As to her claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, we have
reviewed the record on appeal and conclude Ms. Johnson's allegations in this
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regard are conclusory and should not therefore be considered. For example, Ms.
Johnson alleged "[t]he defendant's defense attorney failed to challenge the
sentence as requested by the defendant and as a result the defendant is sitting in
prison with a large prison sentence for drugs that she did not foresee."
Alternatively, this court reads Ms. Johnson's contentions regarding her claim of
ineffective assistance of counsel as being tied to the imposition of the mandatory
minimum sentence, a claim decided adversely to Ms. Johnson by the district court
in Ms. Johnson's first § 2255 motion. We cannot again review this claim simply
because it has been recast in the clothing of an ineffective assistance of counsel
claim.
Ms. Johnson's motion for the grant of a certificate of appealability is
denied. The appeal is DISMISSED for a lack of jurisdiction.
Entered for the Court:
WADE BRORBY
United States Circuit Judge
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