United States v. Freeman, Jr., No. 14-30220 (5th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CaseDefendant, convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and other controlled substances, as well as possession with intent to distribute cocaine, filed a 28 U.S.C. 2255 motion, raising numerous allegations of ineffective assistance of trial counsel. The district court denied the motion and denied a certificate of appealability (COA). This court, however, granted a COA on the issue of whether defendant’s trial counsel was ineffective for failing to move to dismiss the possession with intent to distribute cocaine charge in count three of the superseding indictment as barred by the five-year statute of limitations. The court held that counsel was deficient by not filing a motion to dismiss count three because counsel was required to perform research on whether the superseding indictment would relate back to the original indictment. Further, defendant suffered prejudice as a result of counsel's failure to move to dismiss the count because he had to pay a $100 special assessment on count three. Accordingly, the court reversed the district court's judgment.
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