Gonzalez-Vazquez v. USA
Case Date: 04/02/1998
Court: United States Court of Appeals
Docket No: 97-1873
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UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT ____________________ No. 97-1873 JORGE GONZALEZ-VAZQUEZ, Petitioner, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Respondent, Appellee. ____________________ APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO [Hon. Raymond L. Acosta, U.S. Senior District Judge] ____________________ Before Boudin, Stahl and Lynch, Circuit Judges. ____________________ Jorge Gonzalez-Vazquez on brief pro se. Guillermo Gil, United States Attorney, Nelson Perez-Sosa, Assistant United States Attorney, Rosa E. Rodriguez-Velez, Executive Assistant United States Attorney, and Jose A. Quiles-Espinosa, Senior Litigation Counsel, on brief for appellee. ____________________ April 2, 1998 ____________________ Per Curiam. Jorge Gonzalez-Vazquez appeals pro se from the district court's dismissal of his motion pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 2255. Because the motion was filed before the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 ("AEDPA") took effect, AEDPA does not apply. Petitioner's central argument on appeal is that his attorney provided ineffective assistance of counsel by failing to rebut the government's evidence in support of the two-level enhancement under U.S.S.G. 2D1.1(b)(1). We reject that argument for substantially the same reasons stated by the district court in its Order Dismissing 28 U.S.C. 2255 Petition, dated June 5, 1996. The remaining issues raised by petitioner in this appeal were not raised before the district court. "This circuit religiously follows the rule that issues not presented to the district court cannot be raised on appeal." Ouimette v. Moran, 942 F.2d 1, 12 (1st Cir. 1991). Even were we to consider those issues, they would not entitle petitioner to relief as they are entirely without merit. Affirmed. |