A convicted felon will be given a new chance to prove his claims that he was victimized by two lawyers — each of whom could become convicts themselves. John Hardy was convicted in October 1994 of shooting another man in a street crime. He was sentenced to between 5 and 15 years in prison. He tried to appeal his case, alleging in part that his court-appointed trial lawyer, Shola Ayeni, wasn’t up to the job. Hardy’s grandmother paid another lawyer, Retna Pullings, $1,500 to handle the appeal. According to court records, Pullings pocketed the fee but never showed up. That left Ayeni to handle the appeal, and Ayeni didn’t bring up Hardy’s claim that he had received ineffective assistance of counsel. The appeal was turned aside. But after years of increasingly desperate pleas for help by Hardy, a three-judge D.C. Court of Appeals panel has concluded that Hardy should have another day in court. “Despite his persistent efforts, Mr. Hardy has never obtained a ruling on the merits of his ineffective assistance of counsel claim; therefore … allowing his 2006 motion to proceed would foster an appropriate use of the judicial process,” Associate Judge Inez Smith Reid wrote in her 34-page decision. “This case has a long, unique and convoluted history.” Hardy, now 32, remains in an area halfway house and is scheduled to be released from federal custody in May, according to prison records. Efforts to reach him for this story were unsuccessful. Both of the lawyers involved in his case have since been disbarred. Records show that Ayeni and his investigator were convicted of having friends and family filing thousands of phony witness voucher cards. In a separate case, Pullings pleaded guilty to giving false statements to investigators probing a fraud on the Superior Court. Neither Ayeni nor Pullings could be reached for comment.
