Morris

MEMORANDUM *

Virgil Morris was convicted following a jury trial of four counts of conspiracy to distribute, distributing, and aiding and abetting the distribution of cocaine and cocaine base. The government had extended several plea offers in the months before trial but Morris declined the offers and elected to go to trial. Because Morris previously had been convicted in state court of at least two prior drug felonies, he was subject to a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment under 21 U.S.C. § 841 (b)(1). 1 The district court imposed the mandatory sentence.

Morris raises four claims of error in this appeal. He contends: (1) that there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction on the fourth count of the indictment; (2) that the verdict was invalid because the district court summarized the jury’s verdict form rather than read the form verbatim in open court; (3) that the district court abused its discretion when it denied his motion for a new trial; and (4) that the district court failed to resolve disputed facts in the pre-sentence report before sentencing him. Morris also contends that his Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel was violated because…