Digsby v. McNeil, No. 09-10978

Felon in Possession Conviction Affirmed

In Digsby v. McNeil, No. 09-10978, a prosecution for being a felon in possession of a firearm, the court affirmed the denial of petitioner's habeas petition, holding that petitioner did not show that collateral estoppel barred his conviction, and thus his appellate counsel was not ineffective for not raising the collateral estoppel claim on appeal.

As the court wrote:  "Lawrence Digsby, a Florida prisoner serving a ten-year sentence for a felon-in-possession-of-a-firearm conviction, appeals from the district court's denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Digsby argues that his jury trial on his firearm charge was barred by collateral estoppel, and therefore his state appellate counsel was ineffective for not raising Digsby's collateral estoppel claim in the state direct appeal."

Related Resources

• Read the Eleventh Circuit's Decision in Digsby v. McNeil, No. 09-10978