United States v. Crain, No. 15-60146 (5th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CaseDefendant pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography and to using interstate facilities to transmit information about minors. The Fifth Circuit dismissed defendant's appeal based on claims of Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11 errors based on his appeal waiver. The court held, however, that defendant's collateral attack waiver did not bar his claims of ineffective assistance of counsel because an ineffective assistance of counsel argument survives a waiver of appeal when the claimed assistance directly affected the validity of that waiver or the plea itself. In this case, the court need not determine whether counsel was obligated to warn defendant of a possible lifetime computer ban, or whether counsel was deficient in failing to do so, because defendant failed to demonstrate prejudice. The court dismissed defendant's appeal as to the Rule 11 errors and affirmed as to defendant's remaining claims.
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