Wilmoth v. Barnes
- Nancy Brasel
- 0:18-cv-02504
- U.S. District Court · District of Minnesota
- 3
In Wilmoth v. Barnes, Judge Brasel dismissed Wilmoth’s sentence challenge without prejudice for lack of jurisdiction and forwarded her § 2255 motion to North Carolina.
Abby Wilmoth’s § 2241 case was dismissed without prejudice, while her § 2255 motion was forwarded to the Western District of North Carolina for filing.
What happened
In Wilmoth v. Barnes, Abby Wilmoth filed a petition asking for relief under a federal law that allows challenges to custody. A magistrate judge recommended dismissing the case without prejudice for lack of jurisdiction, partly because Wilmoth had never sought relief under a different federal law, Section 2255.
Wilmoth did not object to the recommendation. Instead, she submitted a Section 2255 motion and asked the court to send it to the proper court, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.
Judge Brasel found no clear error, accepted the recommendation, and dismissed the case without prejudice for lack of jurisdiction. The clerk was directed to forward Wilmoth’s Section 2255 motion and the order to the Western District of North Carolina for filing.
The detailed version
- Wilmoth v. Barnes · No. 0:18-cv-02504
- Nancy Brasel
- Jan. 8, 2019
Background
Abby Wilmoth brought a custody challenge under 28 U.S.C. § 2241. A magistrate judge recommended dismissing the matter without prejudice for lack of jurisdiction, noting in part that Wilmoth had never sought relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2255. Wilmoth did not object to the recommendation. Instead, she submitted a § 2255 motion asking to have it sent to the appropriate court.
Court’s Analysis
Because no party objected to the magistrate judge’s Report and Recommendation, the court reviewed it for clear error. The court found no clear error and accepted the recommendation. It also concluded that Wilmoth could file a § 2255 motion because she had not previously sought relief under that statute. Wilmoth identified the Western District of North Carolina as the proper court for that motion, and the court stated that it would forward the motion there for filing. The court warned that a later motion challenging the sentence under § 2255 would likely be treated as a second or successive motion.
Ruling
Judge Nancy E. Brasel ordered that the Report and Recommendation be accepted, that the § 2241 matter be dismissed without prejudice for lack of jurisdiction, and that the clerk forward Wilmoth’s § 2255 motion and a copy of the order to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina for filing.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.