Allison v. United States
| Decision Date | 09 March 2021 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 19-CV-349-SPM |
| Parties | ALPHONSO PIERRE ALLISON, Petitioner, v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Respondent. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Illinois |
Pending before the Court is a Motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 to Vacate, Set Aside or Correct Sentence (Doc. 7) filed by Petitioner Alphonso Pierre Allison ("Allison"). Within the motion, Allison asserted claims of ineffective assistance of trial counsel; however, Allison was appointed three separate CJA attorneys that represented him at different times and acquiesced with plea negotiations. For the reasons set forth below, the motion is DENIED.
On September 6, 2016, Allison was indicted by the grand jury on two-counts: (1) Conspiracy to distribute heroin and crack cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(B), 841(b)(1)(C); and (2) Possession of a firearm by a felon in violation of Title 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1). United States v. Allison, 16-cr-40037-SMY at Doc. 1 (S.D. Ill.)(CR. 1).1 With respect to count 1, the amount of a mixture andsubstance containing cocaine base "crack cocaine" involved in the overall conspiracy exceeds 28 grams (Id.). With respect to Count 2, the firearm involved was a High Standard, model Sentinel R-101, .22 caliber revolver, bearing serial number 806444 (Id. at p. 2). There was also a firearm forfeiture allegation (Id).
On September 15, 2016, the federal public defender was appointed, and this matter was set for final pretrial conference on 10/26/16 and for jury trial on 11/14/20172 (CR. 10). On September 19, 2016, Judith Kuenneke entered her appearance to represent Allison on behalf of the office of the federal public defender, but she was granted leave to withdraw on October 5, 2016 at which time John Stobbs was appointed as CJA attorney (CR. 16 and 19).
On October 7, 2016, John Stobbs entered his appearance on behalf of Allison (CR. 20). On October 13, Stobbs filed a motion to continue final pretrial and jury trial, which was granted without objection to January 5, 2017 and to January 30, 2017, respectively (CR. 21 and 23). On January 4, 2017, Stobbs filed another motion to continue, which was granted, rescheduling the final pretrial for March 16, 2017 and jury trial for April 3, 2017, respectively (CR. 24-25). On March 8, 2017, Stobbs advised the Court the parties were in the process of finalizing a plea agreement and again sought a continuance (CR. 26). On March 13, 2017, the court continued the final pretrial to March 21, 2017, but kept the trial setting of April 3, 2017 (CR. 27).
On March 20, 2017, the final pretrial was converted to a change of plea hearing (CR. 28). On March 21, 2017, the change of plea hearing was cancelled, and the finalpretrial was set for April 27, 2017 and jury trial was reset for May 8, 2017 (CR. 30). On April 3, 2017, Stobbs filed a motion to set a change of plea date and advised that Allison "desired additional time in which to think about his options" (CR. 31). Accordingly, the pretrial scheduled for April 27, 2017 was converted to change of plea hearing and was changed from Benton to East St. Louis (CR. 33). On April 17, 2017, Allison filed a pro se "motion for reconsideration of plea offer" which was stricken by the Court and Allison was admonished that he shall not personally file anything with the Court, unless he asks for counsel to be allowed to withdraw (CR. 35). On April 27, 2017, Stobbs advised the Court that Allison was not prepared to enter into a plea, and he orally sought leave to withdraw from representation as there was a complete breakdown in communication (CR. 36). At the hearing, Allison was placed under oath and advised that he was rejecting the plea offer and indicated that he did not feel that Stobbs had his best interest at heart (Doc. 25-1, pp. 3-4). On April 28, 2017, Stobbs filed a written motion to withdraw reiterating the complete breakdown in the attorney/client relationship (CR. 37). The motion was granted on that same date, and CJA panel attorney, James Stern, was appointed to represent Allison (CR. 39). This case was reset for pretrial conference on June 15, 2017 and jury trial on 26, 2017 (Id.).
On May 2, 2017, James Stern entered his appearance in the criminal matter (CR. 40). On June 12, 2017, Allison sent a pro se letter to the clerk's office and was again advised that direct contact with the judge is improper and will not be considered (CR. 42). On June 13, 2017, the final pretrial conference set for 6/15/17 was converted to a change of plea hearing (CR. 43).
On June 15, 2017, Stern advised the court that Allison would not be entering a plea and that he wanted a jury trial (CR. 44). Because of the change, Stern orally requested to continue the trial setting (Doc. 26-1). The transcript of the proceedings reflects that the court was reluctant to continue but would look at any motion filed by Stern (Doc. 26-1, pp. 3). Allison advised that his arraignment was in September 2016 and the case had "grown whiskers" (Id.). It was "not the first time Mr. Allison has changed his mind at the last minute" and that he had an "absolute constitutional right" to not enter a plea, but the trial date was not going to be continued again without a motion and without due consideration of the interests of justice (Id. at 3-6).
On June 16, 2017, Stern filed a motion to continue trial, wherein he advised the court he was the replacement defense attorney who just took over the case on April 28, 2017 (CR. 45). Stern claimed that Allison waffled between a plea and a trial and had a hard time communicating with his family in Chicago from Murphysboro (Id.). Stern asserted that Allison would be prejudiced without a trial continuance and advised that the government had no objection (Id.). On June 19, 2017, in furtherance of the ends of justice, an Order was entered continuing the pretrial to July 12, 2017 and jury trial to July 17, 2017 (CR. 46).
On June 21, 2017, a three-count superseding indictment was returned against Allison (CR. 48). The Counts were broken down as follows: (1) Conspiracy to distribute heroin and crack cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(B), 841(b)(1)(C); (2) Knowingly and intentionally distributing a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of heroin, a Schedule I Controlled Substance, inviolation of 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(C) and Title 18 U.S.C. § 2; and, (3) Possession of a firearm by a felon, in violation of Title 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1) (Id). In other words, count 1 remained as charged, a new Count 2 was issued and the previous count 2 became count 3. Additionally, the firearm forfeiture allegation was removed (Id).
On June 23, 2017, Allison was arraigned on the superseding indictment (CR. 54). In anticipation of trial, the government filed its information to establish prior conviction and its motion for notice of alibi defense (CR. 58-59). On June 27, 2017, the government filed its notice of intent to use proffer, acknowledging that the case was set for jury trial on July 17, 2017 (CR. 61).
On June 28, 2017, Allison entered guilty pleas to all three counts of the superseding indictment (CR. 62-66). In the transcript of the proceeding, Stern advised the court that Mr. Allison wished to enter a change of plea to counts 1-3 of the superseding indictment (Doc. 27-1). Allison was placed under oath and the Court went through his background before getting to the specifics of this case (Id. at pp. 3-4). Allison advised that he reviewed the superseding indictment and understood the charges against him (Id. at 4-5). Allison also indicated that he discussed the indictment and case with Stern and that he was satisfied with the representation provided by Stern. (Id.). After the Court went through the potential penalties, Allison advised that he had no questions about the penalties or charges against him (Id. at 6). Judge Yandle explained Allison's rights, including that he was innocent until proven guilty, the he would need to be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, thathe had a right to a jury trial and a right to confront his accusers, that he had a right to bring in witnesses to testify in his own behalf, that he had a right against self-incrimination, and that he had a right to have an attorney with him at every stage of the proceedings (Id. at 7). Allison indicated he understood those rights (Id.).
While on the record, Allison was then provided with a copy of the plea agreement, and he confirmed his signature was on the last page and that he had sufficient opportunity to read and review with Stern before he signed it (Id. at 7-8). Allison stated that he understood that the Court was not bound by the Plea Agreement. (Id. at 8). According to the government, the Plea Agreement contained two different possibilities; first, that Allison is found to be an armed career criminal and second is that he is not found to be an armed career criminal (Id. at 8). The government went through the potential sentencing ranges under both scenarios (Id. at 9-10).
When questioned, Allison indicated he was a "little lost", so the Court went through the agreement until he indicated his understanding (Id. at 10-11). Allison then expressed his intent to plead guilty, and reiterated that he understood the Court could not withdraw the guilty plea after it was accepted and that the Court was not bound by the terms of the plea agreement (Id. at 11-12).
Of note, Allison also signed the stipulation of facts prior to the plea hearing (CR. 65), and confirmed that his signature was on the last page of the document and that he had discussed the stipulation with Stern before signing it (Id. at 14-15). In the stipulation, Allison affirmed that he was involved with others in the distributionof heroin and crack cocaine, including "John John", "Up", "Sheena Carr", "Ms. Cathy", and "Skittles" (Doc. 65). Allison had been receiving dealer amounts of heroin, crack cocaine and...
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