Plaintiff was convicted by a jury and was sentenced to 250 months in prison for possessing and distributing child pornography. During trial, plaintiff argued a public authority defense, i.e., that he believed he was acting on behalf of a non-existent undercover operation when he collected and forwarded child pornography. Plaintiff’s post-trial motions and direct appeal were unsuccessful. Plaintiff then moved to vacate his conviction and sentence pursuant to federal habeas corpus review claiming, among other things, that his trial counsel was ineffective for not calling as a witness a computer forensics witness that counsel had retained and consulted. The district court dismissed the motion without a hearing and plaintiff appealed. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, finding that plaintiff’s arguments lacked merit. (HAMILTON and MALDONADO, concurring)
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Criminal Court
Federal Habeas Corpus