Rolle, Jr. v. United States

Background

Kevin Dion Rolle, Jr. filed a motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, a federal procedure that allows a person in federal custody to challenge a sentence or conviction on specified legal grounds. He filed the motion without a lawyer. The motion challenged the judgment entered in his federal criminal case. The opinion states that Rolle was incarcerated at FCI Hazelton in West Virginia.

Court’s Analysis

The court declined to reach the merits, meaning it did not decide whether Rolle’s legal arguments were correct. It explained that a criminal defendant generally must pursue a direct appeal before bringing a motion under Section 2255. Although a district court may sometimes consider such a motion while a direct appeal is pending, the court stated that doing so is generally appropriate only in extraordinary circumstances because the appeal could affect or make unnecessary the district court’s review.

Rolle had a pending direct appeal before the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The district court therefore concluded that his Section 2255 motion was premature.

Disposition

The court denied the Section 2255 motion without prejudice to Rolle’s refiling it after disposition of the direct appeal, should relief still be necessary. The court also dismissed the civil case opened for the motion, directed the clerk to terminate all motions, and ordered the civil case closed. The opinion does not state that the court decided the merits of Rolle’s sentence challenge.