The Fifth Circuit granted the appointed attorney's motion to withdraw and dismissed the appeal due to an insufficiently developed record. The court also denied the defendant's pro se motion to appoint new counsel as untimely.
Lionell Washington appealed his criminal conviction from the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. His appointed attorney moved to withdraw and filed a brief stating that the appeal was frivolous. Washington filed a response to the motion.
The court’s reasoning
The court found the record was not sufficiently developed to allow a fair evaluation of Washington’s claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. The court noted that the Government declined to waive the untimeliness of the appeal. Consequently, the court declined to consider the claims without prejudice to collateral review.
What it means going forward
The appeal is dismissed, leaving the underlying conviction intact. The defendant may pursue ineffective assistance claims through collateral review proceedings where the record can be properly developed.
