United States v. Miguel Carvajal

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
United States v. Miguel Carvajal, 989 F.2d 170 (5th Cir. 1993)
1993 U.S. App. LEXIS 7702; 1993 WL 107969

United States v. Miguel Carvajal

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Miguel Carvajal appeals the district court’s denial of his motion for grand jury transcripts. His appeal is frivolous. See 5th Cir.Loc.R. 42.2.

Carvajal provides no jurisdictional basis for his motion to inspect the grand jury minutes. The judgment convicting Carva-jal has been entered. He did not directly appeal that judgment. The merits of his § 2255 motion have also been addressed by the district court and dismissed when the district court denied his motion. Because the cause was terminated, the district court lacked jurisdiction to grant his motion requesting grand jury transcripts. See, e.g., First Nationwide Bank v. Summer House Joint Venture, 902 F.2d 1197, 1199 (5th Cir. 1990).

More important, Carvajal did not allege in his § 2255 motion, nor does he now specifically allege, any irregularity in the grand jury proceedings. It is well established that this Court need not consider arguments on appeal that were not raised before the district court in a § 2255 petition. See United States v. Cates, 952 F.2d 149, 152 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 112 S.Ct. 2319, 119 L.Ed.2d 238 (1992). Grand jury proceedings are normally secret; Carvajal cannot now conduct a fishing expedition to see if he can find something in the grand jury minutes that might support further relief under § 2255. See United States v. Short, 671 F.2d 178, 183-187 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 457 U.S. 1119, 102 S.Ct. 2932, 73 L.Ed.2d 1332 (1982).

The appeal is DISMISSED as frivolous.

Reference

Full Case Name
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Miguel CARVAJAL, Defendant-Appellant
Cited By
20 cases
Status
Published