Legal Opinion
Reckmeyer v. United States
District Court, E.D. Virginia
Decided April 5, 1989No. Misc. No. 88-02-A, Crim. No. 85-00010-APublishedCited by 4 opinions
1Opinion of the Court
MEMORANDUM OPINION
ELLIS, District Judge.
Introduction
This Section 2255 Petition to Vacate Sentence tells a bizarre story of avarice, duplicity, and lawyer misconduct. Petitioner contends that his lawyer’s conduct violated his Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights to effective, conflict-free counsel. Specifically, petitioner alleges that his lawyer, John M. Dowd, threatened and coerced him into paying large, exorbitant fees, and then counseled and encouraged him to pay these fees using drug trafficking funds and to use deceptive means to conceal their source. On one occasion, petitioner, with Dowd’s…
2Cases cited38 opinions
- Strickland v. WashingtonSupreme Court of the United States · 1984
- Johnson v. ZerbstSupreme Court of the United States · 1938
- Faretta v. CaliforniaSupreme Court of the United States · 1975
- Gideon v. WainwrightSupreme Court of the United States · 1963
- Gideon v. WainwrightSupreme Court of the United States · 1963
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3Cited by4 opinions
- United States v. Letitia Magini, A/K/A Tish AndersonCourt of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit · 1992
- Rubin v. GeeDistrict Court, D. Maryland · 2001
- Turner v. WilliamsDistrict Court, E.D. Virginia · 1993
- United States v. Robert Bruce ReckmeyerCourt of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit · 1990