Clinton v. Wolfe

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. West Virginia
DecidedApril 8, 2022
Docket3:21-cv-00058
StatusUnknown

This text of Clinton v. Wolfe (Clinton v. Wolfe) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. West Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Clinton v. Wolfe, (N.D.W. Va. 2022).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA MARTINSBURG GREGORY K. CLINTON, Petitioner, v. CIVIL ACTION NO.: 3:21-CV-58 (GROH) MR. WOLFE, Respondent.

ORDER ADOPTING THE MAGISTRATE JUDGE’S REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION Currently before the Court is the Report and Recommendation (“R&R”) in the above-styled action, entered by United States Magistrate Judge Robert W. Trumble on January 19, 2022. ECF No. 29. Pursuant to Rule 2 of the Local Rules of Prisoner Litigation Procedure, this action was referred to Magistrate Judge Trumble for submission of an R&R. Therein, Magistrate Judge Trumble recommends that this Court deny and dismiss the Petitioner’s petition [ECF No. 1] without prejudice. The Petitioner timely filed his objections to the R&R on January 27, 2022. ECF No. 31. Accordingly, this matter is now ripe for adjudication.

I. BACKGROUND The Petitioner filed the pending Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus on April 21, 2021. ECF No. 1. His petition concerns alleged deficiencies with his prior criminal case before this Court, 3:17-cr-5. ECF No. 1. In January of 2017, the Petitioner was charged with one count of being an armed career criminal. ECF No. 1 in 3:17-cr-5. Two months later, the Government filed a superseding indictment, charging the Petitioner in five counts. ECF No. 40 in 3:17-cr-5. Count One charged the Petitioner with being an armed career criminal, Counts Two and Four charged the Petitioner with possession with intent to distribute cocaine base, also known as “crack,” and Counts Three and Five charged

the Petitioner with possession with intent to distribute cocaine hydrochloride, also known as “coke.” ECF No. 40 in 3:17-cr-5. A jury found the Petitioner guilty on Counts One, Four, and Five. ECF No. 255 at 114-16 in 3:17-cr-5. The jury also found the Petitioner guilty of the lesser included offenses in Counts Two and Three. ECF No. 255 at 114-15 in 3:17-cr-5. The Petitioner was sentenced on August 27, 2018, to 264 months incarceration for Count One, 12 months of incarceration for Counts Two and Three each and 240 months of incarceration for Counts Four and Five each, all to be served concurrently. ECF No. 256 at 37 in 3:17-cr-5. During the sentencing hearing, the Government moved for a dismissal of the Second Amended Petition for Warrant for Offender Under Supervision

filed against the Petitioner in 3:08-cr-5, which was a prior criminal action of the Petitioner’s. ECF No. 256 at 35 in 3:17-cr-5. The violations within the second amended petition in 3:08-cr-5 were based solely on the conduct that subsequently gave rise to the Petitioner’s most recent criminal action, 3:17-cr-5, the sentencing and conviction of which underlies this civil action. ECF No. 256 at 35 in 3:17-cr-5. After an oral motion by the Government, the Court dismissed with prejudice the second amended petition for a warrant in 3:08-cr-5. ECF No. 256 at 35-36 in 3:17-cr-5. Before filing the instant § 2241 petition, the Petitioner has twice filed § 2241 petitions with this Court. 3:20-cv-73 & 3:20-cv-179. The Petitioner filed the first petition on April 30, 2020, alleging that he was illegally sentenced in 3:17-cr-5 because of jurisdictional defects in the original and superseding indictments, that the District Court improperly sentenced him on counts that were dismissed, that double jeopardy was violated when the Petitioner was charged for the same conduct in Count One of the

original and superseding indictments, and that the arrest warrant was invalid. ECF No. 1 in 3:20-cv-73. The R&R prepared by the magistrate judge recommended that the case be dismissed because Petitioner could not satisfy the Jones test to challenge his conviction or the Wheeler test to challenge his sentence. ECF No. 65 in 3:20-cv-73. This Court adopted that R&R and dismissed the action on February 10, 2021. ECF No. 69 in 3:20-cv-73. The Petitioner appealed the dismissal of his petition to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and the Fourth Circuit dismissed the appeal by unpublished per curiam opinion on March 29, 2021. ECF No. 78 in 3:20-cv-73. While his first petition was still pending, the Petitioner filed a second petition pursuant to § 2241 with this Court. ECF No. 1 in 3:20-cv-179. The second petition alleged

the same issues with the Petitioner’s conviction and sentence in 3:17-cr-5. ECF No. 1 in 3:20-cv-179. Two weeks after the Fourth Circuit dismissed his appeal of the denial of his first petition, the Petitioner filed to withdraw his second petition. ECF No. 10 in 3:20-cv- 179. On April 14, 2021, this Court dismissed the Petitioner’s second § 2241 petition without prejudice. ECF No. 11 in 3:20-cv-179. One week later, on April 21, 2021, the Petitioner filed the instant petition, his third petition before this Court, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241. ECF No. 1. However, the document filed is a combination of the Court-approved forms for both § 2241 and § 2255 petitions. Further, while the Petitioner identified his sentence as forming the basis for his petition, the arguments set forth by the Petitioner relate to his conviction. Similar to the Petitioner’s prior two petitions, the Petitioner raises issues with his conviction in 3:17-cr- 5. The Petitioner alleges six grounds for relief (1) this Court did not have jurisdiction over Count One in the original and superseding indictments in 3:17-cr-5 because the

Commerce Clause did not apply, (2) Counts Two, Three, Four, and Five of the superseding indictment violate double jeopardy because each count charges the Petitioner with the same conduct and the government did not introduce evidence to distinguish the counts, (3) the jury was informed on lesser included offenses for Counts Two, Three, Four, and Five, which violates due process, (4) jury instructions for the charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm omitted the mens rea requirement required under Rehaif, (5) the Petitioner was improperly charged and prosecuted in federal court instead of state court and (6) the Petitioner was denied assistance of counsel during his direct appeal of his convictions and sentences. For relief, the Petitioner requests that the Court dismiss Count One in the original indictment and in the

superseding indictment, resentence him on any other counts that require resentencing and dismiss any other duplicitous counts. On October 18, 2021, the Petitioner filed a Motion to Docket Text. ECF No. 22. Therein, the Petitioner argues that any sentence not found by the jury violates his Sixth Amendment right to a trial by jury. Specifically, the Petitioner claims that the Court abused its discretion by dismissing Count One without the jury present.1 The Petitioner also takes issue with Count One charging the same violation of law in both the original and

1 The Petitioner states that Count One was dismissed with prejudice on August 27, 2018. The Petitioner’s sentencing hearing in 3:17-cr-5 was held on August 27, 2018, during which the Court dismissed with prejudice the second amended petition in the Petitioner’s earlier criminal case 3:08-cr-5. superseding indictments. The Petitioner avers that this error must be corrected and that this error deprived the Court of subject matter jurisdiction over the remaining Counts in the superseding indictment. On January 5, 2022, the Petitioner filed a Motion to Compel Summary Judgment.

ECF No. 25. Therein, the Petitioner requests that the Court correct its earlier denial of summary judgment and issue a ruling on his petition. The Petitioner also restates issues regarding his conviction in 3:17-cr-5. The Petitioner also raises concern with the jury verdict forms being filed on the docket on the last day of his trial.

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Bluebook (online)
Clinton v. Wolfe, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/clinton-v-wolfe-wvnd-2022.