United States v. Samuel Cohen

MEMORANDUM

Samuel Cohen appeals his jury conviction and sentence on fifteen counts of wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343 , eleven counts of money laundering in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1957 , and three counts of tax evasion, in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7201 . We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and 18 U.S.C. § 3742 . We affirm the trial court in part and dismiss Cohen’s ineffective assistance of counsel claim without prejudice.

1. Cohen argues that his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance by not consulting a handwriting expert. Claims of ineffective assistance of counsel are not generally considered on direct appeal; we review them only “where the record is sufficiently developed to permit review and determination of the issue, or the legal representation is so inadequate that it obviously denies a defendant his Sixth Amendment right to counsel.” United States v. Rivera-Sanchez, 222 F.3d 1057, 1060 (9th Cir.2000) (internal quotation marks omitted). Here, the legal representation was not so inadequate as to obviously deny Cohen his Sixth Amendment right to counsel, and the record was not sufficiently developed to permit our review of the specific issue…