Coll v. United States
- Loretta Preska
- 1:19-cv-06526
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 11
In Coll v. United States, Judge Preska set deadlines for responses to Brian Coll’s pending sentence challenge and compassionate-release request.
Brian Coll and the United States. The order set deadlines for Coll’s response to the Government’s attorney-client-privilege motion and for the Government’s response to Coll’s compassionate-release motion.
What happened
Coll v. United States concerns Brian Coll’s request for an update on his motion asking the court to vacate, set aside, or correct his sentence. He was representing himself, and the Government had not yet responded because an earlier deadline extension depended on resolving a privilege dispute.
The court ordered Coll to respond within 21 days after receiving the order to the Government’s motion about whether he waived attorney-client confidentiality by claiming ineffective assistance of counsel. The court also ordered the Government to respond within 21 days to Coll’s separate request for compassionate release; Coll could reply within 14 days after receiving the Government’s opposition.
The order did not decide the privilege motion, Coll’s sentence challenge, or his compassionate-release request. Judge Loretta A. Preska issued the scheduling directives and stated that the privilege motion would remain pending if Coll did not respond on time.
The detailed version
- Coll v. United States · No. 1:19-cv-06526
- Loretta Preska
- Sept. 18, 2020
Background
Brian Coll, representing himself, asked for an update on his motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 to vacate, set aside, or correct his sentence. His motion included claims that his lawyers provided ineffective assistance, including an allegation that counsel failed to tell him about a plea offer. The Government had not yet filed its response.
The Government had previously asked the court to determine that Coll waived attorney-client privilege—the confidentiality protection for communications between a lawyer and client—as to communications relevant to his ineffective-assistance claims. The Government also asked for more time to respond to Coll’s § 2255 motion. On September 23, 2019, the court extended the Government’s response deadline until 30 days after the privilege motion was resolved and gave Coll two weeks to respond to that motion. Coll did not file a response, and the court had not ruled on the privilege motion.
The court also addressed a separate letter Coll submitted on May 28, 2020, asking the court to contact the Bureau of Prisons to help obtain compassionate release. The court treated that letter as a motion for compassionate release and had previously ordered the Government to respond, but the Government had not done so.
Court’s Action
The court ordered Coll to respond to the Government’s attorney-client-privilege motion no later than 21 days after service of the September 18 order. If Coll did not respond within that period, the Government’s motion would remain pending before the court. The court attached a copy of the Government’s motion for Coll’s reference.
The court separately ordered the Government to respond to Coll’s motion for compassionate release within 21 days of September 18, 2020. Coll could file a reply no later than 14 days after service of the Government’s opposition.
What the Order Did Not Decide
The order did not rule on whether Coll waived attorney-client privilege. It also did not decide the merits of Coll’s § 2255 motion or his compassionate-release motion. The opinion is therefore a procedural order establishing deadlines and explaining why the Government’s responses had not yet been filed.
Judge Loretta A. Preska signed the order on September 18, 2020.
Read the full 11-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.