United States v. Nichols, No. 10-3304 (10th Cir. 2011)
Annotate this CasePro se prisoner Petitioner Cordell Nichols petitioned the Tenth Circuit for a certificate of appealability (COA) to appeal a district court's dismissal of his motion to vacate, set aside or correct his sentence. The motion alleged that newly discovered evidence revealed numerous instances of ineffective assistance of his counsel, both prior to trial and at sentencing -- specifically his counsel's failure to properly investigate and object to "Brady" violations. Petitioner's convictions were based on three separate traffic stop incidents dating from 1999 to 2002. The Tenth Circuit reviewed the record, the district court's order, Petitioner's application for a COA and his proposed opening brief. The Court concluded he was not entitled to relief on either of his claims. The Court concluded it did not have to analyze Petitioner's every challenge to the district court's "extensive orders." Rather, the Court went to "the ultimate issue--whether [Petitioner] has shown prejudice by the actions of counsel or that of the prosecutors. Like the district court, [the Tenth Circuit concluded] he failed to show prejudice on either claim." The Court denied Petitioner's application for a COA and dismissed his appeal.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.