USA v. Jacquel Searles

Filing

Opinion issued by court as to Appellant Jacquel Searles. Decision: Affirmed. Opinion type: Non-Published. Opinion method: Per Curiam. The opinion is also available through the Court's Opinions page at this link http://www.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions.

Case: 17-11945

Date Filed: 10/19/2017

Page: 1 of 2

[DO NOT PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
________________________
No. 17-11945
Non-Argument Calendar
________________________
D.C. Docket No. 4:16-cr-00267-WTM-GRS-1
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus

JACQUEL SEARLES,
Defendant-Appellant.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Georgia
________________________
(October 19, 2017)
Before WLLIAM PRYOR, JORDAN and ROSENBAUM, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Jacquel Searles appeals his conviction for possession of a firearm by a
convicted felon. 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1), 924(a)(2), 924(e). Searles argues that his

Case: 17-11945

Date Filed: 10/19/2017

Page: 2 of 2

trial counsel was ineffective for misadvising him that his prior convictions for
burglary would not be used to enhance his sentence under the Armed Career
Criminal Act. See id. § 924(e). Because the district court did not have an
opportunity to consider this argument and develop a record regarding trial
counsel’s performance, we decline to consider Searles’s argument for the first time
on direct appeal. See United States v. Puentes-Hurtado, 794 F.3d 1278, 1285 (11th
Cir. 2015). Searles can raise his argument in a postconviction motion. See 28
U.S.C. § 2255.
We AFFIRM Searles’s conviction.

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