Rodriguez-Francisco v. United States

Background

By an order dated November 12, 2019, the court denied the petitioner’s motion to vacate the court’s December 1, 2016, opinion and order. In a letter dated November 20, 2019, the petitioner moved for reconsideration of the November 12 order.

The opinion does not describe the legal basis or underlying claims involved in the motion to vacate.

Reconsideration standard

The court stated that a motion for reconsideration may be granted when the movant shows an intervening change in controlling law, newly available evidence, or the need to correct a clear error or prevent manifest injustice. The motion is not supposed to present new facts, issues, or arguments that were not previously submitted. Mere disagreement with the court’s decision is not enough.

Ruling

The court reviewed its earlier decision and the petitioner’s letter-motion. It concluded that it had not overlooked facts or legal precedent that might have changed the earlier result. It also found that the letter-motion did not show that the earlier decision was materially wrong or that correction was needed to prevent manifest injustice. The court therefore denied the motion for reconsideration.

The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. It consequently denied permission to appeal without paying court fees. The court also directed that the petitioner receive copies of the unpublished opinions cited in the decision and instructed the Clerk to mail the order to the address listed in the opinion.