German v. United States
- Lorna Schofield
- 1:22-cv-07409
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In German v. United States, Judge Schofield ordered briefing on whether a plea-agreement appeal waiver affects German’s challenge to his gun conviction.
Joel Reyes German and the United States, whose positions on the petition and the plea agreement’s appeal waiver must be addressed in the ordered letters.
What happened
German v. United States concerns Joel Reyes German’s petition asking the court to set aside his conviction for possessing a gun in connection with an attempted Hobbs Act robbery.
The petition argues that an attempted Hobbs Act robbery can no longer support that gun conviction under recent Supreme Court decisions. The order does not decide whether the petition should be granted or denied.
Judge Schofield ordered each side to submit a letter by April 30, 2025, addressing how the plea agreement’s appeal waiver affects the petition, including the Second Circuit’s decision in Cook v. United States.
The detailed version
- German v. United States · No. 1:22-cv-07409
- Lorna Schofield
- Apr. 21, 2025
Background
Joel Reyes German filed a petition asking the court to vacate his conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). That statute covers certain firearm offenses connected to specified crimes. The petition challenges a gun conviction based on an attempted Hobbs Act robbery.
The order states that attempted Hobbs Act robbery is no longer a valid basis for a § 924(c) conviction after the Supreme Court’s decisions in United States v. Davis and United States v. Taylor.
Order
The court did not decide whether German’s petition succeeds or whether his conviction will be vacated. Instead, the court ordered German and the United States each to submit a letter by April 30, 2025, addressing the effect of the appeal waiver in the parties’ plea agreement. The letters must also discuss the Second Circuit’s decision in Cook v. United States.
Effect of the Order
This order requires additional briefing and leaves the petition unresolved. It does not grant or deny the petition.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.