United States v. Serna

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit FILED February 20, 2008 No. 07-40467 Conference Calendar Charles R. Fulbruge III Clerk UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Plaintiff-Appellee v. SEVERO SERNA Defendant-Appellant Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas USDC No. 2:06-CR-526-6 Before KING, WIENER, and ELROD, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:* Counsel appointed to represent Severo Serna has moved for leave to withdraw and has filed a brief in accordance with Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967). Serna has filed a response. The record is insufficiently developed to allow consideration at this time of Serna’s claims of ineffective assistance of counsel; such claims generally “cannot be resolved on direct appeal when [they have] not been raised before the district court since no opportunity existed to * 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 R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR.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. No. 07-40467 develop the record on the merits of the allegations.” See United States v. Cantwell, 470 F.3d 1087, 1091 (5th Cir. 2006) (internal quotation marks omitted). Our independent review of the record, counsel’s brief, and Serna’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 5TH CIR. R. 42.2. 2