Other examples of ineffective assistance of counsel at sentence abound that do not involve errors related to immigration.  Defense counsel has many critical duties at sentence, which is often the most critical stage of a criminal case.[271]

 

[271] For other resources listing counsel’s duties at sentence, see Cafone, Vacation of Illegal Sentences, in Criminal Defense Techniques § 46.02[6] (2003); A. Amsterdam, Trial Manual for the Defense of Criminal Cases § 465 (ALI-ABA Joint Committee on Continuing Legal Education 1988); Symposium, The Role of Counsel at Sentencing, 23 Legal Aid Brief Case 190 (1965); Younger, Probation and Sentence, 38 L.A. Bar. Bull. 334 (1963); Rothblatt, Successful Techniques in the Trial of Criminal Cases 227-234 (1961).

Ninth Circuit

POST CON REVIEW " SENTENCE " GROUNDS " DUE PROCESS " RELIANCE ON UNRELIABLE, UNSUBSTANTIATED ALLEGATIONS
United States v. McGowan, 668 F.3d 601 (9th Cir. Jan. 26, 2012) (federal sentencing court violated due process, by relying on unreliable, unsubstantiated allegations in imposing sentence, where prisoner witness made unreliable allegations that defendant prison guard smuggled drugs into prison; there was no further evidence in record or inference that might be drawn in support of prisoner's extremely serious charges, there was no explanation as to why defendant would have engaged in such felonious conduct with prisoner, and sentencing judge had no opportunity to observe prisoner in order to evaluate his credibility).

POST CON RELIEF - SENTENCE - GROUNDS - DOUBLE JEOPARDY
United States v. Brobst, 558 F.3d 982 (9th Cir. Mar. 9, 2009) (vacating sentence, where concurrent sentences for child pornography possession and receipt violated the Double Jeopardy Clause).

POST CON RELIEF - HABEAS - GROUNDS - INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT SENTENCE ENHANCEMENT
Garcia v. Carey, ___ F.3d ___, 2005 WL 107090 (9th Cir. Jan. 20, 2005) (grant of habeas relief affirmed where there was constitutionally insufficient evidence to support the imposition of gang and gun sentencing enhancements).
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/9th/0256895p.pdf

POST CON REVIEW " SENTENCE " GROUNDS " DUE PROCESS " RELIANCE ON UNRELIABLE, UNSUBSTANTIATED ALLEGATIONS " STANDARD OF REVIEW
United States v. McGowan, 668 F.3d 601 (9th Cir. Jan. 26, 2012) (To establish that his right to due process [at sentence] was violated, McGowan must show that the allegations were (1) false or unreliable, and (2) demonstrably made the basis for the sentence. . . . Challenged information is deemed false or unreliable if it lacks some minimal indicium of reliability beyond mere allegation.); citing United States v. Vanderwerfhorst, 576 F.3d 929, 935"36 (9th Cir.2009) (quoting United States v. Ibarra, 737 F.2d 825, 827 (9th Cir.1984); see United States v. Hanna, 49 F.3d 572, 577 (9th Cir.1995) (sentencing court violated due process by relying on allegations made under oath, but not subjected to many of the procedural mechanisms traditionally used to test witness testimony, where the jailhouse informant had everything to gain and nothing to lose by implicating the defendant, and presumably provided information to the FBI in the hope of being granted some sort of leniency, and could be expected to confirm the truth of this information when he testified at trial); cf. Gonzalez v. Wong, No. 08"99025, 2011 WL 6061514, at *33"*37 (9th Cir. Dec.7, 2011) (recounting a 1989"90 Los Angeles County Grand Jury investigation that revealed the disturbing ease and frequency with which jailhouse informants provided false testimony); United States v. Corral, 172 F.3d 714, 716 (9th Cir. 1998) (In determining whether a defendant has shown that unreliable information was demonstrably made the basis for [his] sentence, we read the record and decide whether reliance on [the] information ... probably did occur.).