Crawford

MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER DENYING MARK CRAWFORD’S § 2255 PETITION (1:96-CR-05127, DOC. 812)

I. INTRODUCTION

Before the court for decision is Defendant Mark Crawford’s (“Crawford” or “Petitioner”) motion pursuant to Title 18, United States Code, section 2255 (“Petition”). Petitioner contends that he did not receive the effective assistance of counsel during his June 1999 trial, which resulted in a jury convicting him of racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, murder in the aid of racketeering, kidnapping in the aid of racketeering, conspiracy, embezzlement from an employee welfare benefit plan, six counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, obstruction of justice by killing a witness, obstruction of justice by retaliation against a witness (murder), threatening to commit a crime of violence against a witness, and three counts of perjury. Petitioner is currently incarcerated, serving a life sentence. Doc. 720.

Crawford’s central contentions are that his lead trial counsel, Bill May: (1) was unprepared for trial and was impaired by physical, emotional, financial, and legal problems during trial; (2) failed to call a key defense witness, William Noel, who May…