Bell v. United States

A jury convicted appellant in 1992 of felony murder, armed robbery, and a weapons offense. Evidence at trial, including the testimony of Willard Jackson (“the only government witness who directly implicated [appellant] in the crime,” as the trial judge later observed), established appellant’s complicity in the armed robbery of Devon Lewis (“Jamaican Mike”), in the course of which Lewis was shot to death. Appellant’s convictions were affirmed on direct appeal. Before us now is an appeal from the denial of appellant’s third post-conviction motion which alleged ineffective assistance of trial…