United States of America, Plaintiff-appellee, v. Kurt Frederick Knoneberg, Defendant-appellant, 972 F.2d 343 (4th Cir. 1992)

On January 15, 1991, a jury in the Northern District of West Virginia found appellant Kurt Frederick Knoneberg guilty on two counts: first, of conspiring to possess marijuana with intent to distribute it, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846; and second, of possessing marijuana with intent to distribute it, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a) (1). On January 31, 1992, the district court sentenced Knoneberg to forty-one (41) months of prison, and required him to pay a fine of one-thousand dollars ($1,000).

Knoneberg now appeals his convictions. He makes two arguments. First, Knoneberg contends that his lawyer performed so inadequately at trial that he deprived Knoneberg of his Sixth Amendment rights to effective assistance of counsel and to a fair trial. Second, Knoneberg contends that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient as a matter of law to support the jury's verdict.

It is not our practice to address claims of ineffective assistance of counsel on direct appeal, and we decline to do so here. Ordinarily, we require that appellant first assert such a claim in a collateral proceeding under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, so that the trial court can develop a more complete evidentiary record with regard to counsel's performance. United States v. Tatum, 943 F.2d 370, 379 (4th Cir. 1991); United States v. Grandison, 783 F.2d 1152, 1156-57 (4th Cir. 1986); United States v. Percy, 765 F.2d 1199, 1205 (4th Cir. 1985); United States v. Mandello, 426 F.2d 1021, 1022-23 (4th Cir. 1970). There is no reason here to depart from this customary practice, because this is not a case where ineffectiveness is apparent from the trial record itself. See Grandison, 783 F.2d at 1156-57.

As to appellant's second argument, we have reviewed the record and conclude that there was sufficient evidence presented at trial to support his convictions. The judgment of the district court is therefore

AFFIRMED.