United States v. William Ferguson

Case: 10-20277 Document: 00511382451 Page: 1 Date Filed: 02/15/2011 IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit FILED February 15, 2011 No. 10-20277 Conference Calendar Lyle W. Cayce Clerk UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee v. WILLIAM LEROY FERGUSON, Defendant-Appellant Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas USDC No. 4:09-CR-604-1 Before HIGGINBOTHAM, GARZA, and ELROD, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:* The Federal Public Defender appointed to represent William Leroy Ferguson has moved for leave to withdraw and has filed a brief in accordance with Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967). Ferguson has filed a response. The record is insufficiently developed to allow consideration at this time of Ferguson’s claim of ineffective assistance of counsel; such a claim generally “cannot be resolved on direct appeal when the claim has not been raised before the district court since no opportunity existed to develop the record on the merits * Pursuant to 5TH CIR . R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR . R. 47.5.4. Case: 10-20277 Document: 00511382451 Page: 2 Date Filed: 02/15/2011 No. 10-20277 of the allegations.” United States v. Cantwell, 470 F.3d 1087, 1091 (5th Cir. 2006) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Our independent review of the record, counsel’s brief, and Ferguson’s response discloses no nonfrivolous issue for appeal. Accordingly, the motion for leave to withdraw is GRANTED, counsel is excused from further responsibilities herein, and the APPEAL IS DISMISSED. See 5 TH C IR. R. 42.2. 2