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  • United States v. Lorenzo Lopez, 4th Cir. (2015)

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    The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed the criminal judgment against Lorenzo Malloral Lopez. Lopez pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. He was sentenced to consecutive terms of 60 months in prison. On appeal, Lopez argued that his counsel was ineffective for permitting him to plead guilty with an appellate waiver instead of pleading "straight up." However, the court declined to consider this ineffective assistance of counsel claim on direct appeal, as the record did not conclusively show counsel was ineffective. The court determined the claim would need to be raised through a 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion to allow further development of the record.

    Original Description:

    Filed: 2015-01-20 Precedential Status: Non-Precedential Docket: 14-4360

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    The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed the criminal judgment against Lorenzo Malloral Lopez. Lopez pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. He was sentenced to consecutive terms of 60 months in prison. On appeal, Lopez argued that his counsel was ineffective for permitting him to plead guilty with an appellate waiver instead of pleading "straight up." However, the court declined to consider this ineffective assistance of counsel claim on direct appeal, as the record did not conclusively show counsel was ineffective. The court determined the claim would need to be raised through a 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion to allow further development of the record.

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    Public Domain
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    4 views3 pages

    United States v. Lorenzo Lopez, 4th Cir. (2015)

    Uploaded by

    Scribd Government Docs
    The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed the criminal judgment against Lorenzo Malloral Lopez. Lopez pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. He was sentenced to consecutive terms of 60 months in prison. On appeal, Lopez argued that his counsel was ineffective for permitting him to plead guilty with an appellate waiver instead of pleading "straight up." However, the court declined to consider this ineffective assistance of counsel claim on direct appeal, as the record did not conclusively show counsel was ineffective. The court determined the claim would need to be raised through a 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion to allow further development of the record.

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    of 3

    UNPUBLISHED

    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS


    FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

    No. 14-4360

    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,


    Plaintiff Appellee,
    v.
    LORENZO MALLORAL LOPEZ,
    Defendant - Appellant.

    Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western
    District of North Carolina, at Charlotte.
    Robert J. Conrad,
    Jr., District Judge. (3:12-cr-00113-RJC-2)

    Submitted:

    January 15, 2015

    Decided:

    January 20, 2015

    Before WILKINSON and NIEMEYER, Circuit Judges, and DAVIS, Senior


    Circuit Judge.

    Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

    Carol Ann Bauer, Morganton, North Carolina, for Appellant.


    Anne M. Tompkins, United States Attorney, William M. Miller,
    Assistant United States Attorney, Charlotte, North Carolina, for
    Appellee.

    Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

    PER CURIAM:
    Lorenzo

    Malloral

    Lopez

    pled

    guilty,

    pursuant

    to

    written plea agreement, to conspiracy to possess with intent to


    distribute at least 500 grams of cocaine, in violation of 21
    U.S.C. 846 (2012), and possession of a firearm in furtherance
    of

    drug

    924(c)

    trafficking

    (2012).

    The

    offense,
    district

    in

    violation

    court

    of

    sentenced

    Lopez

    consecutive terms of sixty months imprisonment.


    his

    criminal

    judgment,

    arguing

    only

    that

    18

    U.S.C.
    to

    two

    Lopez appeals

    his

    counsel

    was

    ineffective in permitting him to plead guilty pursuant to a plea


    agreement containing an appellate waiver provision, rather than
    pleading straight up, as he had originally contemplated.
    We

    decline

    to

    reach

    the

    merits

    of

    Lopezs

    claim.

    Unless an attorneys ineffectiveness conclusively appears on the


    face of the record, ineffective assistance claims generally are
    not addressed on direct appeal.
    F.3d 424, 435 (4th Cir. 2008).

    United States v. Benton, 523


    Instead, such claims should be

    raised in a motion brought pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 2255 (2012),


    in order to permit sufficient development of the record.

    United

    States

    2010).

    Because

    v.
    we

    Baptiste,

    596

    discern

    no

    F.3d

    214,

    conclusive

    216

    n.1

    evidence

    (4th
    of

    Cir.

    ineffective

    assistance of counsel on the face of the record before us, we


    conclude that Lopezs claim should be raised, if at all, in a
    2255 motion.
    2

    Accordingly, we affirm the district courts judgment.


    We

    dispense

    contentions

    with
    are

    oral

    argument

    adequately

    because

    presented

    in

    the

    facts

    and

    the

    materials

    legal
    before

    this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

    AFFIRMED

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