Zannino v. United States

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

YOUNG, District Judge.

Illario Zannino (“Zannino”) has petitioned this Court for habeas corpus relief from his sentence pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255. 1 Zannino claims that he was denied a fair trial by the ineffective assistance of counsel. Specifically, Zannino alleges that his trial counsel, Joseph J. Balliro, Esq. (“Balliro”), (1) failed to introduce evidence gained from an interview with a government witness, Donald Smoot (“Smoot”), which allegedly contradicted testimony given by Smoot at trial; and (2) denied him the right to testify in his own behalf.

I. BACKGROUND

The…