US v. Purnell Wood

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Originating case number: 3:12-cr-00239-GCM-17. Copies to all parties and the district court/agency [999824614]. [15-4512]

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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 15-4512

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
PURNELL WOOD,
Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western
District of North Carolina, at Charlotte.
Graham C. Mullen,
Senior District Judge. (3:12-cr-00239-GCM-17)

Submitted:

March 31, 2016

Decided:

May 17, 2016

Before KING, SHEDD, and HARRIS, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Daniel Johnson, Drew Nelson, WILLIS JOHNSON & NELSON PLLC,
Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellant.
Amy Elizabeth Ray,
Assistant United States Attorney, Asheville, North Carolina, for
Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Purnell Wood appeals the downward variant sentence of 21
months

imposed

following

his

guilty

plea

to

conspiracy

to

violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act,
in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d) (2012).

On appeal, Wood’s

counsel has filed a brief pursuant to Anders v. California, 386
U.S.

738

(1967),

certifying

that

there

are

no

meritorious

grounds for appeal but questioning the reasonableness of Wood’s
sentence

and

assistance.

whether

trial

counsel

rendered

Wood has not filed a pro se supplemental brief,

despite being notified of his right to do so.
We

review

a

sentence’s

We affirm.

procedural

reasonableness for an abuse of discretion.

and

procedural

error,

such

as

improper

substantive

United States v.

Howard, 773 F.3d 519, 527-28 (4th Cir. 2014).
for

ineffective

We first review

calculation

of

the

Sentencing Guidelines range, failure to consider the 18 U.S.C.
§ 3553(a)

(2012)

sentencing

factors,

selection

of

a

sentence

based on clearly erroneous facts, id. at 528, or failure to
adequately explain the sentence, Gall v. United States, 552 U.S.
38, 51 (2007).

Absent any procedural error, we examine the

substantive reasonableness of the sentence under “the totality
of

the

properly

circumstances.”
calculated

Id.

Guidelines

Sentences
range

are

within
presumed

or

below

a

reasonable,

and this “presumption can only be rebutted by showing that the
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sentence is unreasonable when measured against the 18 U.S.C.
§ 3553(a) factors.”

United States v. Louthian, 756 F.3d 295,

306 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 135 S. Ct. 421 (2014).
Because Wood did not object to his Guidelines calculations
below, we review for plain error.
701

F.3d

404,

410

(4th

Cir.

United States v. Hamilton,

2012);

see

Henderson

v.

United

States, 133 S. Ct. 1121, 1126-27 (2013) (discussing standard).
We
The

conclude

that

district

Wood’s

court

sentence

properly

is

procedurally

calculated

criminal history, and Guidelines range.
parties

an

adequate

opportunity

appropriate

sentence

and

allocute.

Additionally,

to

allowed
the

Wood’s

reasonable.

offense

level,

The court afforded both

make

arguments

Wood

court’s

the

opportunity

an

about

to

explanation

for

its

sentence, in which the court addressed several of the § 3553(a)
factors, was individualized and detailed.

Moreover, Wood cannot

overcome the presumption of substantive reasonableness accorded
his below-Guidelines sentence.
Wood also summarily suggests that trial counsel provided
ineffective
conclusively

assistance.
appears

Unless

on

the

an

face

attorney’s
of

the

ineffectiveness

record,

ineffective

assistance claims are not generally addressed on direct appeal.
United States v. Benton, 523 F.3d 424, 435 (4th Cir. 2008).
Instead,

such

pursuant

to

claims
28

should

U.S.C.

§

be

2255
3

raised
(2012),

in
in

a

motion

order

to

brought
permit

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sufficient

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development

of

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the

record.

United

Baptiste, 596 F.3d 214, 216 n.1 (4th Cir. 2010).

States

v.

Because the

record does not conclusively establish ineffective assistance of
counsel, we conclude that such claims should be raised, if at
all, in a § 2255 motion.
In

accordance

with

Anders,

we

have

reviewed

the

entire

record in this case and find no meritorious ground for appeal.
We therefore affirm the district court’s judgment.

This court

requires that counsel inform Wood, in writing, of the right to
petition

the

Supreme

Court

of

the

United

States

for

further

review.

If Wood requests that a petition be filed, but counsel

believes that such a petition would be frivolous, then counsel
may

move

in

representation.

this

and

materials

legal
before

for

leave

to

withdraw

from

Counsel’s motion must state that a copy thereof

was served on Wood.
facts

court

We dispense with oral argument because the

contentions

are

adequately

this

and

argument

court

presented

would

not

in

the

aid

the

decisional process.
AFFIRMED

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