In Carmichael v. United States, No. 17-13822 (July
22, 2020) (Proctor (ND Ala), Wilson, Newsom), the Court affirmed the
denial of a 2255 motion based on ineffective assistance of counsel.
The government conceded, and the Court agreed, that counsel
performed deficiently by failing to communicate Carmichael’s total 40-year
sentence, seek a negotiated plea as requested, or relay 10-year and 20-year
plea offers. However, the
Court concluded that Carmichael could not show prejudice because he could not
show that he would have accepted the plea offer had it been communicated to
him. The offers were conditioned on his
substantial assistance and “super-cooperation,” and Carmichael did not show
that he was willing or able to do so before he went to trial and was convicted,
or that the government would have deemed his cooperation satisfactory.
