Velasquez v. United States
- Lorna Schofield
- 1:20-cv-04328
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Velasquez v. United States, Judge Schofield ordered the Government to file a limited response addressing new arguments in Velasquez’s challenge.
Carlos Jose Zavala Velasquez and the United States Government; the order required the Government to submit a limited further response.
What happened
Carlos Jose Zavala Velasquez, acting without a lawyer, asked the court under a federal procedure to set aside or correct his conviction and sentence. He filed an amended request, and the Government opposed it.
In his reply, Velasquez raised additional arguments involving a federal statute, international treaty obligations, and alleged misconduct by his attorney. The court ordered the Government to file a response addressing those new arguments by August 16, 2021, limited to 15 pages.
Judge Lorna G. Schofield did not decide the challenge to Velasquez’s conviction or sentence in this order. She also directed the Clerk of Court to mail the order to Velasquez and barred further filings unless the court requested them.
The detailed version
- Velasquez v. United States · No. 1:20-cv-04328
- Lorna Schofield
- July 27, 2021
Background
Carlos Jose Zavala Velasquez filed a motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, a procedure allowing a federal prisoner to ask the sentencing court to vacate, set aside, or correct a conviction or sentence. He filed the motion without a lawyer on June 5, 2020, and filed an amended motion on July 23, 2020. The court later allowed the amended motion and directed the Government to respond. The Government filed its opposition on October 26, 2020, and Velasquez filed a reply on January 26, 2021.
New Arguments
The court noted that Velasquez raised new arguments in his reply, including alleged noncompliance with 22 U.S.C. § 1827, alleged violations of international treaty obligations, and additional alleged misconduct by his attorney. Because courts must read filings by people representing themselves liberally and consider the strongest claims those filings suggest, the court required a further response.
Order
Judge Lorna G. Schofield ordered the Government to file a surreply—a further written response—by August 16, 2021. The surreply could not exceed 15 pages and had to address the arguments raised in Velasquez’s reply. The court ordered that no further materials be filed unless it requested them. The Clerk of Court was directed to mail a copy of the order to Velasquez. This order did not decide the merits of his challenge to his conviction or sentence.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.