United States of America, Plaintiff-appellee, v. Andrew Hart Thomas, Iv, Defendant-appellant, 50 F.3d 18 (9th Cir. 1995)

MEMORANDUM^** 

Even assuming defendant received deficient advice from trial counsel regarding acceptance of responsibility, defendant has failed to show he suffered any prejudice from that advice. Under Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 694 (1984), defendant had to demonstrate a "reasonable probability" that the outcome of his sentencing hearing would have been different had he received effective representation. We agree with the district court that defendant failed to meet this burden. Defendant testified that, had he received effective assistance of counsel, he would have pleaded guilty and demonstrated genuine acceptance of responsibility for his crime. The district court found that this testimony simply wasn't credible. We find nothing in the record to suggest that this credibility determination should be disturbed. The district court properly denied defendant's motion to vacate his sentence.

AFFIRMED.