United States v. Barajas, 670 F. App'x 993

Samuel Barajas was convicted on federal drug charges and sentenced to life; conviction affirmed on direct appeal.
Barajas filed a 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion alleging ineffective assistance by pretrial, trial, and appellate counsel.
The district court dismissed some claims on the pleadings, appointed counsel, held an evidentiary hearing, and dismissed the remaining claims.
Barajas moved for reconsideration claiming his § 2255 hearing counsel was ineffective; the district court denied the motion.
On appeal Barajas sought a certificate of appealability (COA); counsel filed an Anders brief asserting the appeal was frivolous, and Barajas filed a response.
The Tenth Circuit reviewed the record, concluded Barajas’s claims were meritless (including his claim he would have accepted a plea), denied a COA, dismissed the appeal, and allowed counsel to withdraw.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether a COA should issue for § 2255 ineffective-assistance claims	Barajas argued his pretrial, trial, and appellate counsel were ineffective, and he would have accepted a plea but for counsel’s errors	Government/district court argued the claims lacked merit; factual findings show Barajas consistently maintained innocence and refused pleas	COA denied — claims are meritless and not debatable
Whether Barajas would have accepted a plea but for counsel’s ineffectiveness	Barajas asserted he would have pled guilty to an earlier plea offer if properly advised	District court found Barajas consistently and adamantly denied guilt and refused plea offers	Held against Barajas — claim contradicted by district court’s factual findings
Whether the district court erred in dismissing claims after evidentiary hearing	Barajas contended the hearing and rulings reflected ineffective representation or factual error	District court record and hearing support its conclusions; appellate review found no debatable error	Affirmed — dismissal proper and not debatable
Whether counsel’s Anders brief justified withdrawal and dismissal of appeal	Barajas opposed withdrawal, arguing issues merited review	Counsel asserted appeal was wholly frivolous under Anders v. California	Court granted counsel’s motion to withdraw and dismissed the appeal after review

Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967) (procedure when appellate counsel finds appeal frivolous and seeks to withdraw)
Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473 (2000) (standard for granting a certificate of appealability)