Hilliard v. United States

Appellant Neal S. Hilliard was indicted in 1986 for first degree murder while armed and carrying a pistol without a license. He entered a guilty plea to the lesser-included offense of manslaughter while armed and was sentenced to serve fifteen years to life in prison. Fourteen years later, still incarcerated, Hilliard moved pursuant to D.C.Code § 23-110 (2001) to set aside his guilty plea on the ground of ineffective assistance of counsel. In the alternative, he petitioned for a writ of error coram nobis and re-sentencing on the ground that the trial judge did not know he would be denied…