Philippeaux v. United States
- Ronnie Abrams
- 1:18-cv-05974
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Philippeaux v. United States, Judge Abrams terminated a post-judgment motion because a pending appeal left the district court without jurisdiction.
Philander Philippeaux's pending motion was terminated; the court did not decide his requests to dismiss the indictment, release him, or obtain relief from the judgment or order.
What happened
In Philippeaux v. United States, Philander Philippeaux asked the court to dismiss what he called a falsified indictment, immediately release him, and grant relief from a judgment or order. He had already appealed to the Second Circuit.
The court said the appeal deprived it of authority to decide the requests to dismiss the indictment and release Philippeaux. Although a district court may sometimes decide a timely request for relief from a judgment while an appeal is pending, Philippeaux filed his request more than 28 days after judgment.
Judge Ronnie Abrams concluded that the court lacked jurisdiction to grant the requested relief while the appeal was pending. The Clerk was directed to terminate the motion at Docket 52 and mail the order to Philippeaux.
The detailed version
- Philippeaux v. United States · No. 1:18-cv-05974
- Ronnie Abrams
- Aug. 14, 2020
Background
On August 6, 2020, Philander Philippeaux filed an emergency motion containing three requests: relief from a judgment or order under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(2), (3), and (4); dismissal of what he described as a falsified indictment; and immediate discharge from prison. The motion was docketed on August 11, 2020, as Docket 52. Philippeaux had filed a notice of appeal to the Second Circuit on April 23, 2020, and an amended notice of appeal on April 29, 2020.
Jurisdiction over the Requests
The court explained that filing a notice of appeal generally gives the court of appeals authority over the aspects of the case involved in the appeal and removes the district court's control over those matters. For that reason, the district court said it lacked jurisdiction to decide Philippeaux's requests to dismiss the indictment and obtain immediate release.
The court separately considered the Rule 60(b) request. A notice of appeal does not always prevent a district court from deciding a timely Rule 60 motion. Under the rule discussed by the court, however, the motion must be filed within 28 days after entry of judgment. The court found that Philippeaux's Rule 60(b) motion was not filed within that period. It therefore concluded that it lacked jurisdiction to grant the requested relief while the appeal was pending.
Disposition
The court did not reach the merits of Philippeaux's allegations or requests for relief. The Clerk of Court was directed to terminate the motion at Docket 52 and mail a copy of the order to Philippeaux. Judge Ronnie Abrams signed the order on August 14, 2020.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.