FILED
United States Court of Appeals
Tenth Circuit
PUBLISH April 16, 2012
Elisabeth A. Shumaker
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Clerk of Court
TENTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v. No. 11-2232
DOMINIC MOYA,
Defendant - Appellant.
APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW MEXICO
(D.C. NOS. 1:11-CV-00081-WJ-WDS and 1:09-CR-00761-WJ-1 )
Dominic Moya, pro se. *
Before MURPHY, ANDERSON, and HARTZ, Circuit Judges.
HARTZ, Circuit Judge.
Defendant Dominic Moya, proceeding pro se, filed a motion for relief
under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 in the United States District Court for the District of New
Mexico. The district court denied the motion and rejected his application for a
*
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)(2); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is
therefore ordered submitted without oral argument.
certificate of appealability (COA). See 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(B) (requiring a
COA to appeal the denial of a § 2255 motion). He now seeks a COA from this
court. We deny the application for a COA and dismiss the appeal because no
reasonable jurist could debate the district court’s decision. Defendant argues that
his counsel was ineffective in negotiating his plea agreement and that the district
court erred in refusing to hold an evidentiary hearing on his attorney’s
ineffectiveness. But he has not alleged facts to support a finding that he was
prejudiced by his attorney’s purported ineffectiveness.
I. BACKGROUND
On March 26, 2009, a federal grand jury indicted Defendant on three
counts: (1) being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, see
18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1), 924(a)(2); (2) possessing cocaine base with intent to
distribute, see 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B); and (3) carrying and possessing a
firearm during, in relation to, and in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime, see
18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A)(i). After his arraignment Defendant filed an
unsuccessful motion to suppress evidence. He then reached a plea agreement with
the government and pleaded guilty to the cocaine charge. The plea agreement
provided that the other counts of the indictment would be dismissed. In exchange
Defendant agreed to a 15-year sentence, waived his right to seek a downward
departure from that sentence, and waived his right to appeal his sentence and
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conviction. On April 12, 2010, the district court sentenced him to 15 years’
imprisonment followed by four years of supervised release.
On January 21, 2011, Defendant filed his § 2255 motion in district court,
contending that he had received ineffective assistance of counsel. First, he
claimed that his attorney had been ineffective for failing to “arrange” or “advise
[him] to enter into” a conditional plea agreement that preserved his right to appeal
the denial of his suppression motion and to withdraw his guilty plea if he
prevailed. R. at 4–5. Second, he claimed that his counsel had rendered
ineffective assistance by failing to incorporate into his plea agreement
Amendment 651 to the Sentencing Guidelines, see USSG § 4A1.3(b), which
permits a downward departure on the ground that the defendant’s criminal record
overstates his criminal past. In addition, Defendant requested discovery and an
evidentiary hearing. The district court denied both Defendant’s § 2255 motion
and his requests for discovery and an evidentiary hearing.
Construed liberally, Defendant’s application for a COA in this court asserts
that the district court improperly denied an evidentiary hearing on his § 2255
motion and that his counsel was ineffective for failing to negotiate a plea
agreement that would have allowed him (1) to appeal the denial of his suppression
motion and (2) to pursue a downward departure under Amendment 651.
Defendant may also be arguing that his counsel was ineffective for failing to
object to the presentence report’s calculation of his criminal history and its
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classification of his burglary as a crime of violence. But he did not raise these
matters in district court and has not provided a “reason to deviate from the
general rule that we do not address arguments presented for the first time on
appeal.” United States v. Mora, 293 F.3d 1213, 1216 (10th Cir. 2002).
II. DISCUSSION
A. Standard of Review
A COA will issue “only if the applicant has made a substantial showing of
the denial of a constitutional right.” 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2). This standard
requires “a demonstration that . . . includes showing that reasonable jurists could
debate whether (or, for that matter, agree that) the petition should have been
resolved in a different manner or that the issues presented were adequate to
deserve encouragement to proceed further.” Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473,
484 (2000) (internal quotation marks omitted). In other words, the applicant must
show that the district court’s resolution of the constitutional claim was either
“debatable or wrong.” Id. We recognize that in determining whether to issue a
COA, a “full consideration of the factual or legal bases adduced in support of the
claims” is not required. Miller–El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322, 336 (2003).
Instead, the decision must be based on “an overview of the claims in the habeas
petition and a general assessment of the merits.” Id. On the other hand, the
§ 2255 motion must “state facts that point to a real possibility of . . . error.”
Advisory Committee Note, 1976 Adoption, Rule 4 of the Rules Governing Section
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2254 Cases in the United States District Courts (internal quotation marks
omitted); see Advisory Committee Note, 1976 Adoption, Rule 4 of the Rules
Governing Section 2255 Proceedings in the United States District Courts
(referencing the § 2254 note); United States v. Fischer, 38 F.3d 1144, 1147 (10th
Cir. 1994) (conclusory allegations alone, without supporting factual averments,
are insufficient to state a valid claim under § 2255).
B. Ineffective-Assistance-of-Counsel Claims
Defendant claims that his attorney was ineffective for failing to negotiate a
plea agreement that preserved his rights to appeal the denial of his suppression
motion and to pursue a downward departure. To establish ineffective assistance
of counsel, Defendant must show “that counsel’s representation fell below an
objective standard of reasonableness” and that he was prejudiced by the deficient
performance. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687–88, 692 (1984). In
Hill v. Lockhart, 474 U.S. 52, 59 (1985), the Supreme Court said that when a
defendant who has pleaded guilty brings an ineffective-assistance claim, he must
“show that there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel’s errors, he
would not have pleaded guilty and would have insisted on going to trial.”
Defendant has not adequately pleaded prejudice under Hill because he has failed
to allege that he would not have pleaded guilty absent his attorney’s deficiencies.
We recognize that Hill has very recently been limited in its application.
The Supreme Court articulated a new standard for showing prejudice in Missouri
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v. Frye, No. 10-444, 2012 WL 932020 (S. Ct. March 21, 2012); see also Lafler v.
Cooper, No. 10-209, 2012 WL 932019 (S. Ct. March 21, 2012). The more
general test set forth in Frye is whether the defendant can “show a reasonable
probability that the end result of the criminal process would have been more
favorable” to the defendant in the absence of counsel’s deficiencies. Frye, 2012
WL 932020, at *9. The Court reaffirmed Hill, however, in saying that when “a
defendant complains that ineffective assistance led him to accept a plea offer as
opposed to proceeding to trial, the defendant will have to show ‘a reasonable
probability that, but for counsel’s errors, he would not have pleaded guilty and
would have insisted on going to trial.’” Id. at *11–*12 (quoting Hill, 474 U.S. at
59). And in any event, Defendant’s allegations come up short in several respects
under even the Frye test. He alleges no facts that would suggest that his attorney
could have successfully negotiated a plea agreement allowing him to appeal the
denial of his suppression motion or to seek a downward departure in his sentence.
Nor has he provided any reason to believe that he could have prevailed on such an
appeal or persuaded the district court to depart downward. Because of this failure
to allege prejudice adequately, Defendant’s ineffective-assistance claims lacked
any colorable merit.
C. Denial of Evidentiary Hearing
“We review the district court’s refusal to hold an evidentiary hearing for
an abuse of discretion.” United States v. Harms, 371 F.3d 1208, 1210 (10th Cir.
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2004). Defendant contends that the district court erred when it refused to hold an
evidentiary hearing to resolve his ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claims. But
“[d]istrict courts are not required to hold evidentiary hearings in collateral attacks
without a firm idea of what the testimony will encompass and how it will support
a movant’s claim.” United States v. Cervini, 379 F.3d 987, 994 (10th Cir. 2004).
Given the conclusory nature of Defendant’s allegations, the district court’s denial
of an evidentiary hearing was not an abuse of discretion.
III. CONCLUSION
We DENY Defendant’s application for a COA and DISMISS his appeal.
We GRANT Defendant’s request to proceed in forma pauperis.
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