Olden v. United States

Petitioner-Appellant Andre Olden appeals the district courts denial of his § 2255 motion to vacate his conviction for narcotics distribution. Olden asserts that he was provided ineffective assistance of counsel and completely denied representation by his counsels absences at critical stages of his trial. We hold that while Olden cannot establish prejudice to support his ineffective assistance claim, his counsels absences at critical stages of his trial completely denied him the representation guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment. However, because we cannot determine whether Olden legitimately waived his right to his own counsel, we remand for an evidentiary hearing on that issue. Accordingly, we VACATE the district courts denial of Oldens motion to vacate, and REMAND for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.