Matthew Shawn Victor Bridges v. United States of America

United States Court of Appeals
For the Eighth Circuit
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No. 23-3148
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Matthew Shawn Victor Bridges
lllllllllllllllllllllPetitioner - Appellant
v.
United States of America
lllllllllllllllllllllRespondent - Appellee
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Appeal from United States District Court
for the Northern District of Iowa - Cedar Rapids
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Submitted: September 10, 2024
Filed: September 13, 2024
[Unpublished]
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Before LOKEN, GRUENDER, and SHEPHERD, Circuit Judges.
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PER CURIAM.
Matthew Bridges appeals the district court’s1 order denying his 28 U.S.C.
§ 2255 motion after an evidentiary hearing. The district court granted a certificate of
1The Honorable C.J. Williams, then United States District Judge for the
Northern District of Iowa, now Chief Judge.

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appealability on Bridges’s claim that his counsel was ineffective for failing to file a
direct appeal as requested. After de novo review of the ineffective-assistance claim,
according deference to the district court’s credibility findings, we conclude that the
court did not clearly err in finding that Bridges did not ask his attorney to file an
appeal. See Walking Eagle v. United States, 742 F.3d 1079, 1082 (8th Cir. 2014).
We also conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in failing to
continue the hearing to allow Bridges’s additional proposed witnesses to testify. See
Souder v. Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp., 939 F.2d 647, 651 (8th Cir. 1991).
Accordingly, we affirm.
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