United States v. Chris Wells ( 2019 )

Case: 18-31129 Document: 00515185572 Page: 1 Date Filed: 11/04/2019
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
No. 18-31129 FILED
Summary Calendar November 4, 2019
Lyle W. Cayce
Clerk
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee
v.
CHRIS WELLS, also known as Six Wells,
Defendant-Appellant
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Louisiana
USDC No. 2:17-CR-104-1
Before WIENER, HAYNES, and COSTA, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM: *
Chris Wells appeals following his guilty plea conviction and below-
guidelines 240-month sentence for conspiracy to possess with the intent to
distribute 100 grams or more of heroin, distribution of heroin, possession with
the intent to distribute heroin and 28 grams or more of crack cocaine, being a
felon in possession of a firearm, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of
a drug trafficking crime. As his sole issue on appeal, Wells claims that his trial
* Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not
be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH
CIR. R. 47.5.4.
Case: 18-31129 Document: 00515185572 Page: 2 Date Filed: 11/04/2019
No. 18-31129
counsel rendered ineffective assistance by failing to inform Wells that Wells
would be sentenced as a career offender. According to Wells, counsel’s
inadequate assistance rendered his guilty plea unknowing.
Generally, claims of ineffective assistance of counsel “cannot be resolved
on direct appeal when [they have] not been raised before the district court since
no opportunity existed to develop the record on the merits of the allegations.”
United States v. Cantwell, 470 F.3d 1087, 1091 (5th Cir. 2006) (internal
quotation marks and citation omitted). The Supreme Court has emphasized
that a 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion is the preferred method for raising a claim of
ineffective assistance of counsel. Massaro v. United States, 538 U.S. 500,
503-04 (2003). Claims of inadequate representation are resolved on direct
appeal only in “rare” cases where the record allows a fair evaluation of the
claim’s merits. United States v. Navejar, 963 F.2d 732, 735 (5th Cir. 1992).
The factual issues underlying Wells’s claim of ineffective assistance
cannot be determined on the current record and would best be resolved by the
district court on § 2255 review. See Massaro, 538 U.S. at 505-06; United States
v. Gulley, 526 F.3d 809, 821 (5th Cir. 2008). Consequently, we decline to
address Wells’s ineffective assistance claim on direct appeal. Our decision not
to address the issue is without prejudice to Wells raising his ineffective
assistance claim in a timely § 2255 proceeding.
AFFIRMED.
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