United States v. Raymond W. Burrows, Jr.

Raymond Burrows, a federal prisoner, appeals the district court’s denial without an evidentiary hearing of his 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion. In his motion Burrows alleged he received ineffective assistance of counsel because his trial attorney failed to investigate his mental state and present evidence regarding his mental state at trial.

Burrows was convicted of racketeering conspiracy in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1962 (d). He appealed his conviction, and this court denied his appeal in United States v. Tille, 729 F.2d 615 (9th Cir.) cert. denied, 469 U.S. 845 , 105 S.Ct. 156 , 83 L.Ed.2d 93 , cert. denied sub nom. Burrows v. United States, 469 U.S. 848 , 105 S.Ct. 164 , 83 L.Ed.2d 100 (1984). Burrows then filed a motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 , alleging he received ineffective assistance of counsel because his trial attorney failed to investigate his mental state and present evidence regarding his mental state at trial. The magistrate concluded that an evi-dentiary hearing was needed to determine whether Burrows’ trial attorney was ineffective. However, the district court denied Burrows’ motion without conducting an ev-identiary hearing. Burrows timely appeals. We reverse and remand…