Darron Howard v. United States

OPINION

KAREN NELSON MOORE, Circuit Judge.

Darron Deon Howard (“Howard”) appeals from the denial of his motion to vacate his sentence under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 on the basis of ineffective assistance of counsel. Howard claims that his counsel’s performance was deficient because counsel failed to argue either at sentencing or on direct appeal that certain criminal history points did not apply. For the following reasons, we REVERSE the district court’s judgment and REMAND for an evidentiary hearing as discussed herein.

I. BACKGROUND

In February 2006, the Grand Rapids Police Department was responding to…