Kiley v. United States

The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of petitioner's motion to vacate, set aside or correct his sentence under 28 U.S.C. 2255. The court held that counsel's conflict did not adversely affect the adequacy of his representation of petitioner at trial; the district court did not clearly err in finding that counsel's strategy was reasonable in the circumstances, the evidence of petitioner's guilt was overwhelming, and alternative strategies petitioner proposed were not objectively reasonable; and petitioner failed to show that the conflict diminished counsel's credibility in the jury's eyes. The court also held that the district court did not clearly err by finding that counsel did not know that the funds at issue were stolen and that there was insufficient evidence to support a reasonable inference that petitioner knew, or should have known, that the funds at issue were illegitimate. Finally, the district court did not clearly err by finding that emails were insufficient to raise an inference that counsel was entangled with the conspiracy. View "Kiley v. United States" on Justia Law