United States v. Jackson

MEMORANDUM **

William Jackson appeals the district court’s ruling denying his motion to vacate, alter, or set aside his sentence under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 , claiming that his trial attorney was ineffective for failing to investigate his criminal history during pretrial plea negotiations. We affirm.

To establish ineffective assistance of counsel, Jackson must bear the burden of proving that defense counsel’s perform *640 anee fell below an objective standard of reasonableness and that the deficiency-prejudiced him. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 688 , 104 S.Ct. 2052 , 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). Defense counsel generally has an “obligation to conduct a thorough investigation of the defendant’s background” to discover evidence in mitigation of sentence. Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362, 396 , 120 S.Ct. 1495 , 146 L.Ed.2d 389 (2000) (citations omitted.) But counsel may also reasonably decide, based on tactical or other considerations, that a particular investigation is unnecessary or risky. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 690-91 , 104 S.Ct. 2052 . “[A] particular decision not to investigate must be directly assessed for reasonableness in all the circumstances, applying a heavy measure of…