US v. McNeil: In 2018, police, after observing a car stop in front of McNeil’s house, pulled the car over (“for an unspecified ‘regulatory violation’”) and “recovered a small bag of marijuana.” Police went back to McNeil’s home, knocked, and spoke to two “juvenile subjects” who said McNeil was not home. Officers then walked into the backyard to a “small shed” where they found McNeil and smelled marijuana. A search of the she uncovered money and firearms. McNeil pleaded guilty to drug and firearm charges and was sentenced to 114 months.
McNeil filed a §2255 motion arguing that he had received ineffective assistance of counsel because his trial counsel had failed to file a motion to suppress the evidence found in the shed and failed to engage in any plea negotiations with the Government. Without a hearing, the district court denied the motion, concluding that any motion to suppress would have been “frivolous” and that McNeil had affirmed he was happy with the performance of counsel during his Rule 11 hearing.
The Fourth Circuit reversed and remanded the case for an evidentiary hearing. On each basis that the district court denied relief the court concluded that the record was insufficient to determine whether McNeil’s claims had merit. Taking the facts set forth by McNeil in his motion as true, the court indicated that a motion to suppress may have had some merit, but that further factual development (including whether McNeil told counsel about relevant facts and whether counsel made a reasoned decision not to file such a motion) was required and the district court should have held a hearing. As to the plea negotiations, the court noted that portions of McNeil’s Rule 11 hearing involved multiple defendants answering questions at the same time and the record did not clearly demonstrate that McNeil expressed satisfaction with his counsel’s performance.
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