Ronald Geddis v. United States

Whether the Court of Appeals erred in denying the Petitioner a certificate of appealability, where reasonable jurists could debate the district court’s conclusion that defense counsel did not provide ineffective assistance at sentencing by (a) failing to investigate available evidence impeaching the government’s sole sentencing witness, (b) failing to object to factual allegations in the Presentence Investigation Report that impacted the district court’s sentencing decision, and (c) failing to introduce available evidence to rebut those allegations at sentencing.

Whether the district court erred in denying, without an evidentiary hearing, a claim under 28 U.S.C. Section 2255 of ineffective assistance of counsel at sentencing where: (a) defense counsel acknowledged at the sentencing hearing that they had not investigated whether the Petitioner’s daughter’s allegations of childhood sexual abuse were true because they believed it was “not [their] job” to do so; (b) defense counsel failed to timely object to those allegations in the Presentence Investigation Report, and (c) the Petitioner submitted sworn allegations establishing that counsel possessed, but failed to use, substantial impeachment evidence regarding the allegations.