Encarnacion-Lafontaine v. United States

Background

Edgar Encarnacion-Lafontaine filed a motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 to challenge the judgment of conviction in his federal criminal case. The opinion states that he was proceeding without a lawyer and was being held in immigration detention at the Moshannon Valley Immigration and Customs Enforcement Processing Center. Records showed that he had been released from Bureau of Prisons custody on August 15, 2024. Because he had received a five-year term of supervised release after imprisonment, the court concluded that he was apparently still "in custody" for purposes of Section 2255 when he filed the motion.

Reason for Transfer

The court found that Encarnacion-Lafontaine had previously filed a Section 2255 motion challenging the same judgment of conviction. Because the earlier motion had been decided on the merits, the current application was a second or successive motion. Federal law requires a person to obtain authorization from the appropriate court of appeals before filing such a motion in the district court. The court therefore determined that the Second Circuit, rather than the district court, should decide whether the motion could proceed. The opinion states that authorization requires a showing based on newly discovered evidence or a new constitutional rule made retroactive by the Supreme Court.

Ruling and Disposition

In the interest of justice, Judge Jed S. Rakoff transferred the Section 2255 motion to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit under 28 U.S.C. § 1631. The order closed the district-court case but stated that Encarnacion-Lafontaine could move to reopen it under the civil docket number if the Second Circuit authorized him to proceed. The court also ruled that the motion made no substantial showing that a constitutional right had been denied, so a certificate of appealability would not issue. It further certified that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees.