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Alvarez v. United States, 95-1668 (1996)

Court: Court of Appeals for the First Circuit Number: 95-1668 Visitors: 9
Filed: Aug. 06, 1996
Latest Update: Mar. 02, 2020
Summary: , ______________, Guillermo Gil, United States Attorney, Sonia I. Torres, Assistant, _____________ _______________, United States Attorney, and Jos A. Quiles-Espinosa, Senior Litigation, _______________________, Counsel, on brief for appellee.petitioner's direct appeal.pre-trial statement.
USCA1 Opinion









[NOT FOR PUBLICATION]

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT
____________________


No. 95-1668


VICTOR ALVAREZ,

Plaintiff, Appellant,

v.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Defendant, Appellee.

____________________


APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO

[Hon. Carmen Consuelo Cerezo, U.S. District Judge] ___________________

____________________

Before

Torruella, Chief Judge, ___________
Cyr and Stahl, Circuit Judges. ______________

____________________

Victor Alvarez on brief pro se. ______________
Guillermo Gil, United States Attorney, Sonia I. Torres, Assistant _____________ _______________
United States Attorney, and Jos A. Quiles-Espinosa, Senior Litigation _______________________
Counsel, on brief for appellee.


____________________

August 2, 1996
____________________



















Per Curiam. This is an appeal from a district ___________

court order denying a motion by petitioner Alvarez to set

aside his conviction and sentence. See 28 U.S.C. 2255. We ___

affirm the judgment for the following reasons.

(1) Petitioner alleges a deprivation of his rights

to confrontation, compulsory process, due process and equal

protection of the laws, in a trial court ruling that limited

the scope of co-defendant Flores's testimony. The same

arguments were raised, considered, and rejected on

petitioner's direct appeal. United States v. Alvarez, 987 _____________ _______

F.2d 77, 81-83 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 849 (1993). ____________

They may not be resurrected on collateral review. See Murchu ___ ______

v. United States, 926 F.2d 50, 55 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, _____________ ____________

502 U.S. 828 (1991).

(2) Petitioner alleges ineffective assistance of

counsel at trial, and related deprivations of his rights

under the Fourteenth Amendment, in connection with the

erroneous admission into evidence of co-defendant Matos's

pre-trial statement. However, to sustain such a claim a

petitioner must show prejudice, meaning that but for his

counsel's alleged error the result of the proceeding would

have been different. See Argencourt v. United States, 78 ___ __________ ______________

F.3d 14, 15 (1st Cir. 1996). On direct appeal, petitioner

made the same argument as to prejudice that he makes here,

i.e., that "spillover prejudice" from the erroneous admission



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of Matos's statement entitled him to a reversal or new trial.

A panel of this court concluded that although Matos was

entitled to a reversal due to the error, as to petitioner

there was sufficient evidence to sustain the jury's verdict.

Alvarez, 987 F.2d at 83-84. Thus this claim, too, is _______

foreclosed by the decision on direct review, and we need not

reach petitioner's allegation that trial counsel's

performance in this regard was deficient.

(3) Petitioner claims that the district court erred

at sentencing in attributing to him the total weight of the

cocaine found in all three codefendants' suitcases. This

alleged nonconstitutional, nonjurisdictional error was not

raised on direct appeal. It may not be considered for the

first time under 2255 absent a showing of "exceptional

circumstances" amounting to a complete miscarriage of

justice. Knight v. United States, 37 F.3d 769, 772-73 (1st ______ _____________

Cir. 1994). No exceptional circumstances were shown here.1 1

Although no other issues are raised in petitioner's

briefs, appellee spontaneously argues that defense counsel's

failure to call petitioner as a witness at the trial was

probably a deliberate strategic decision. Petitioner now


____________________

1 While this case was pending on appeal, the President 1
signed into law the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty
Act of 1996, Pub. L. 104-132, 110 Stat. 1214 (Apr. 24, 1996).
Although neither party has raised the issue, we note that we
need not decide in this case whether any of the amendments
in the Act apply, since it would not alter our disposition.

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contends that he needs the assistance of counsel to brief

this new question. As the issue itself is not properly

before us (it was not squarely presented to the court below),

and in any event we see no reason to appoint counsel,

petitioner's supplementary memorandum seeking reconsideration

of our order denying an appointment of counsel is denied. ______



The judgment below is affirmed. ________





































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Source:  CourtListener

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