Lorenzana v. United States
- John Keenan
- 1:16-cv-04355
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Lorenzana v. United States, Judge Keenan lifted the stay and gave Lorenzana until August 5 to respond before deciding his sentence-vacatur motion.
Victor Lorenzana, whose sentence-vacatur motion remains pending, and the United States, which submitted the position supporting denial of that motion.
What happened
Victor Lorenzana asked to vacate his conviction and sentence under a federal law allowing prisoners to challenge them. His motion concerns firearm convictions tied to Hobbs Act robbery convictions.
The court lifted the stay in the case and gave Lorenzana until August 5, 2020, to respond to the government’s position that his motion should be denied. The government relied on a Second Circuit decision holding that Hobbs Act robbery qualifies as a crime of violence for the relevant firearm law.
Judge John F. Keenan ordered the clerk to end the stay and mail Lorenzana the order and the government’s letter. The order did not itself grant or deny Lorenzana’s motion; it said the motion would be ready for decision after the response deadline unless the court ordered otherwise.
The detailed version
- Lorenzana v. United States · No. 1:16-cv-04355
- John Keenan
- June 17, 2020
Background
Victor Lorenzana filed a motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, a federal procedure allowing a person in federal custody to seek correction or vacatur of a conviction or sentence. The motion seeks to vacate his convictions on Counts Six, Seven, and Nine under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c), which imposes penalties for using or carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. The motion was based on Johnson v. United States, 135 S. Ct. 2551 (2015), according to the government’s letter.
The court stayed the case on February 2, 2018, while potentially relevant Supreme Court and Second Circuit decisions were pending. The government later told the court that the stay should be lifted and that Lorenzana’s motion should be denied. It relied on United States v. Hill, 890 F.3d 51 (2d Cir. 2018), in which the Second Circuit held that Hobbs Act robbery is a crime of violence under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(3)(A). The government stated that each of Lorenzana’s firearm counts was based on a substantive Hobbs Act robbery.
Court’s Action
The court terminated the stay. It gave Lorenzana until August 5, 2020, to file a response to the government’s letter. Unless the court ordered otherwise, the motion would be considered fully submitted on that date.
The clerk was directed to mail Lorenzana a copy of the order and the government’s letter. The order did not itself rule on whether Lorenzana’s motion should be granted or denied.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.