Adam J. Sherman v. United States

By operation of a federal statute, Petitioner was entitled to appellate review of his criminal conviction scrutinizing the “entire record” of his case. 10 U.S.C. § 866(d)(1) (2018). This requirement included any information added to the record during any post-trial hearings. This statutory mandate creates a substantial right for an appellant to a complete review of the record when appealing their case. Petitioner appealed his conviction and alleged that he received ineffective assistance of counsel at trial. To help it assess this issue, the appellate court ordered a post-trial fact-finding hearing. Following the hearing and subsequent briefing by the parties, the appellate court issued an opinion that expressly declined to consider certain information from the posttrial fact-finding hearing. Despite a statutory duty to review the “entire record,” the appellate court’s analysis omitted significant evidence obtained at the hearing. 10 U.S.C. § 866(d)(1) (2018). The question presented is: Does statutory text imposing a duty for an appellate court to review the “entire record” require consideration of all the evidence from a post-trial factfinding hearing?