Gadsden v. United States

294 F. Supp. 3d 516
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Virginia
DecidedMarch 7, 2018
DocketCIVIL NO. 2:16cv459; [ORIGINAL CRIMINAL NO. 2:96cr182–1]
StatusPublished

This text of 294 F. Supp. 3d 516 (Gadsden v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gadsden v. United States, 294 F. Supp. 3d 516 (E.D. Va. 2018).

Opinion

REBECCA BEACH SMITH, CHIEF JUDGE

This matter comes before the court on the Petitioner's Motion Under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 to Vacate, Set Aside, or Correct Sentence ("Motion"), filed pro se on July 25, 2016. ECF No. 135.1 The Motion was filed with authorization from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to file a successive § 2255 motion based upon the new rule of constitutional law announced in Johnson v. United States, --- U.S. ----, 135 S.Ct. 2551, 192 L.Ed.2d 569 (2015). ECF No. 134.

Also before the court is the Petitioner's Request for Oral Argument, filed through counsel on June 16, 2017. ECF No. 144.2 The court indicated that it would schedule oral argument, if appropriate, following the ruling on an appeal before the Fourth Circuit, which appeal presented the issue of law raised in the Petitioner's Motion. See Order of June 16, 2017, ECF No. 145. The Fourth Circuit has since issued a decision in that case, United States v. Brown, 868 F.3d 297 (4th Cir. 2017), reh'g en banc denied, No. 16-7056 (4th Cir. Feb. 26, 2018).3 However, after a full examination of the briefs and the record, and given the ruling in Brown, the court has determined that a hearing is unnecessary, as the facts and legal arguments are adequately presented, and the decisional process would not be aided significantly by oral argument.

*518See Fed. R. Civ. P. 78(b) ; Local Civ. R. 7(J). The Petitioner's Request for Oral Argument, therefore, is DENIED.4

I.

The Petitioner's Motion challenges his sentence as a career offender under United States Sentencing Guidelines ("U.S.S.G.") §§ 4B1.1 and 4B1.2, based on the new right recognized in Johnson v. United States, --- U.S. ----, 135 S.Ct. 2551, 192 L.Ed.2d 569 (2015). Mot. at 4. On July 28, 2016, the court entered an Order staying the proceeding pending a decision by the Supreme Court in Beckles v. United States, 616 Fed.Appx. 415 (11th Cir. 2015), cert. granted, --- U.S. ----, 136 S.Ct. 2510, 195 L.Ed.2d 838 (2016) (No. 15-8544). ECF No. 136. The Supreme Court issued its decision in Beckles on March 6, 2017. See Beckles v. United States, --- U.S. ----, 137 S.Ct. 886, 197 L.Ed.2d 145 (2017). This court subsequently warned the Petitioner that the Motion appeared to be untimely, and ordered him to show cause, within thirty (30) days, why the court should conclude otherwise. See Show Cause Order of April 3, 2017, ECF No. 138. The court provided the Petitioner with the relevant provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 2255, as amended by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 ("AEDPA"), Pub. L. No. 104-132, § 105, 110 Stat. 1214 (1996), which imposes a one-year statute of limitations on § 2255 motions.

The Petitioner filed a Response to the Show Cause Order ("Response") on June 1, 2017. ECF No. 143. In the Response, the Petitioner argued that his Motion is timely under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (f) (3), because "[t]he Johnson decision is directly applicable to Mr. Gadsden's Motion." Resp. at 1. The Petitioner further argued that the Supreme Court's decision in Beckles supports the Motion, stating that, while " Beckles held that Johnson does not apply to challenges to the residual clause under § 4B1.2 for sentences imposed under the advisory guidelines," Beckles"does not preclude void-for-vagueness challenges under Johnson to sentences that were issued pursuant to the mandatory sentencing guidelines in place between 1987 and 2005, under which Mr. Gadsden was sentenced." Resp. at 3.

II.

The Fourth Circuit's ruling in United States v. Brown, 868 F.3d 297 (4th Cir. 2017), reh'g en banc denied, No. 16 7056 (4th Cir. Feb. 26, 2018), is dispositive of the Petitioner's Motion. In Brown, the Fourth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a § 2255 motion as untimely under 28 U.S.C. § 2255(f) (3), when presented with the same argument raised here. See Brown, 868 F.3d at 298. The petitioner in Brown was designated an armed career offender under U.S.S.G. §§ 4B1.1 and 4B1.2. See id. He, too, argued that the holding in Johnson entitled to him relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, and that the holding in Beckles did not preclude such relief, because "the Beckles court carefully limited its holding to the advisory

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Bluebook (online)
294 F. Supp. 3d 516, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gadsden-v-united-states-vaed-2018.