Gomez v. United States
- Paul Gardephe
- 1:20-cv-00809
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Gomez v. United States, Judge Gardephe denied Gomez’s Section 2255 motion as time-barred because he filed it after the deadline.
Sandy Gomez’s federal challenge to his conviction and sentence was denied as untimely; the United States prevailed on the timeliness issue.
What happened
In Gomez v. United States, Sandy Gomez, representing himself, asked the court to set aside his conviction and sentence. He was serving a 164-month prison sentence and five years of supervised release after a jury convicted him of a cocaine-distribution conspiracy.
The court calculated that Gomez’s deadline to file the motion was January 2, 2020, but he said he placed it in the prison mail system on January 17, 2020. The court had given him an opportunity to explain why the deadline should be extended, but he did not respond.
Judge Paul G. Gardephe denied the petition as time-barred and directed the clerk to close the case. The court also declined to issue a certificate allowing an appeal and denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees.
The detailed version
- Gomez v. United States · No. 1:20-cv-00809
- Paul Gardephe
- Aug. 24, 2020
Background
Sandy Gomez, who was incarcerated and representing himself, filed a motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255. That statute allows a federal prisoner to challenge the legality of a conviction or sentence. Gomez challenged his conviction and sentence in the related criminal case, docket number 15 Cr. 348-2.
The court had sentenced Gomez to 164 months’ imprisonment and five years of supervised release after a jury found him guilty of conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine. The court stated that the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the conviction on October 1, 2018, and that Gomez did not ask the Supreme Court to review the case.
Timeliness
Under § 2255, a federal prisoner generally has one year from the date the conviction becomes final to file a motion. The court determined that Gomez’s conviction became final after the 90-day period for asking the Supreme Court to review the Second Circuit’s decision expired. Because that period ended on December 31, 2018, the court calculated that Gomez’s filing deadline was January 2, 2020.
Gomez stated that he placed his petition in the prison mail system on January 17, 2020. The court accepted that statement and concluded that the petition was late. The court had ordered Gomez to explain why the deadline should be extended by showing that he had pursued his rights diligently and that an extraordinary circumstance prevented timely filing. Gomez did not submit the required declaration or otherwise respond.
Ruling
Judge Paul G. Gardephe denied the petition as time-barred. The court directed the clerk to close the case. It also ruled that no certificate of appealability would issue because Gomez had not made a substantial showing that a constitutional right was denied. The court further certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees. The order did not decide the substance of Gomez’s challenges to his conviction or sentence.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.