Medina v. United States

Background

Robert Medina, who was incarcerated at F.C.I. Ashland and proceeding without a lawyer, filed a motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255. Section 2255 allows a federal prisoner to challenge a conviction or sentence in the court that entered the judgment. Medina sought to challenge the judgment entered in his criminal case.

The district court’s records showed that Medina had filed an earlier § 2255 motion challenging the same judgment and that the earlier motion had been decided on the merits. The court therefore treated the new application as a second or successive § 2255 motion.

Reasoning

Under 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b)(3)(A), a prisoner must obtain authorization from the appropriate federal court of appeals before filing a second or successive § 2255 motion in the district court. The opinion states that authorization must be sought from the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The footnote adds that the motion to the appeals court must be based on newly discovered evidence or a new constitutional rule made retroactive by the Supreme Court.

Disposition

Judge Gardephe ordered the clerk to mail Medina a copy of the order and transferred the § 2255 motion to the Second Circuit under 28 U.S.C. § 1631. The order closed the district-court case. It stated that, if the Second Circuit authorizes Medina to proceed, he may move to reopen the case under the civil docket number.

The court further stated that no certificate of appealability would issue because the motion made no substantial showing of a denial of a constitutional right. It also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees.