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By Shari Allison

U.S. v. Meacham, 2009 WL 1492548 (5/29/09) (Published) - The 10th could decide whether the d. ct. abused its discretion in refusing to hold an evidentiary hearing regarding a motion for new trial based on a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, even though ordinarily the 10th prefers to leave ineffective assistance claims to collateral proceedings. The d. ct. did not abuse its discretion because the defendant's assertion that trial counsel had refused to allow him to testify was not supported by an affidavit and was not sufficiently detailed. It was not clear how counsel prevented the defendant from testifying. An evidentiary hearing might show what happened, but making the bare conclusory allegation that counsel "refused to let" the defendant testify was insufficient to entitle the defendant to a hearing...continue to full post

Full post as published by Tenth Circuit Blog on June 02, 2009 (boomark / email).