United States v. Garcia-Herrera
Opinion
Appellant Tizoc Chalchihutlaton Garcia-Herrera was charged with numerous counts relating to a drug conspiracy. He pled guilty to one count pursuant to a plea agreement in which he waived his right to appeal or challenge his conviction or sentence with respect to all claims but claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. The government dismissed the other counts. Appellant was sentenced to 151 months' imprisonment on the count of conviction. He did not file an appeal.
Apparently dissatisfied with counsel, Appellant filed a pro se "Motion to Compel Former Attorney to Produce Record File/Work Product Material" in his closed criminal case. (R. at 219.) His motion demanded "all documents and work regarding his case." (
Id.
) He did not identify any potential substantive basis for relief. He did not state that he intended to file a motion for relief pursuant to
*1220 The district court granted partial relief and directed defense counsel to provide Appellant with certain documents. Appellant appealed that order, claiming a right to all of the files. In response, the government argued that the district court lacked jurisdiction to grant any part of the motion and requested that this court vacate the district court's order and remand with instructions to dismiss Mr. Garcia-Herrera's motion for lack of jurisdiction. 1
Our first duty in every case is to first determine our jurisdiction. The only authority Appellant cites for federal jurisdiction in this case is
Woods asserts that the district court had jurisdiction under18 U.S.C. § 3231 -a statute that provides district courts with original jurisdiction "of all offenses against the laws of the United States." But § 3231 by itself doesn't give the district court jurisdiction over all post-conviction motions, particularly motions filed in anticipation of filing a § 2255 motion. See, e.g. , United States v. Asakevich ,810 F.3d 418 , 420-21 (6th Cir. 2016) (noting that prisoner hadn't yet filed § 2255 motion and finding that § 3231's grant of original jurisdiction didn't "by itself provide [district court with] a basis for considering" post-appeal motion for extension of time to file § 2255 motion (quoting United States v. Lucido ,612 F.3d 871 , 874 (6th Cir. 2010) ) ); United States v. Verners ,15 Fed.Appx. 657 , 660 (10th Cir. 2001) (unpublished) (concluding that § 2255 tolling motion wasn't ripe for adjudication when prisoner hadn't yet filed § 2255 motion, vacating district court's denial of tolling motion, and remanding with directions to dismiss); United States v. Chammout , No. CR-F-06-426 OWW,2008 WL 1970813 , at *2 (E.D. Cal. May 5, 2008) (unpublished) (finding no basis in Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure to grant motion for post-conviction discovery of exculpatory evidence in anticipation of filing § 2255 motion).
United States v. Woods
, No. 15-3304,
While we are not bound by that case we find it persuasive on this point. We also note that its reasoning is in accordance with the reasoning of our sister circuits.
See, e.g.
,
United States v. Wahi
,
We therefore VACATE the district court's order and REMAND with directions to dismiss Mr. Garcia-Herrera's motion.
"Although the government did not file a cross-appeal, we can consider this issue because it concerns the district court's subject matter jurisdiction."
Lopez v. United States
,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Tizoc Chalchihutlaton GARCIA-HERRERA, Defendant-Appellant.
- Cited By
- 7 cases
- Status
- Published