Ineffective Assistance of Counsel.

Byline: Derek Hawkins

7th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Demetrise L. Harper

Case No.: 18-1725

Officials: WOOD, Chief Judge, and BARRETT and ST. EVE, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

Demetrise Harper appeals from the district court's denial of his motion to withdraw his plea of guilty to three charges: possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime, 18 U.S.C. 924(c); possession of a firearm by a felon, id. 922(g); and possession with intent to distribute and distribution of a controlled substance, 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(C). In moving to withdraw his plea, Harper argued that he was innocent of the first because he never "possessed" the gun, and that his plea was not knowing and voluntary because he had received ineffective assistance...