Ernest Cobbett v. United States

WOLLMAN, Circuit Judge.

Ernest Cobbett pled guilty to a federal cocaine charge in 1989. There was no appeal. Three years later, Cobbett filed a 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion to vacate his sentence. It is from the district court’s order 1 denying this motion that Cobbett appeals.

In general, where a criminal defendant cannot show good cause for his failure to appeal, even meritorious claims will be barred in post-conviction proceedings. Reid v. United States, 976 F.2d 446, 447-48 (8th Cir.1992), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 113 S.Ct. 1351, 122 L.Ed.2d 732 (1993). Cobbett, attempting to establish the…