(HC) Louthian v. United States

District Court, E.D. California·Decided February 27, 2023·No. 1:22-cv-00510·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

RAY D. LOUTHIAN, Case No. 1:22-cv-00510-SAB-HC

Petitioner, FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATION TO GRANT RESPONDENT’S MOTION TO v. DISMISS

UNITED STATES, (ECF No. 6)

Respondent. ORDER DIRECTING CLERK OF COURT TO RANDOMLY ASSIGN DISTRICT

Petitioner is a federal prisoner proceeding pro se with a petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241. I. Petitioner is currently incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution in Mendota, California. (ECF No. 1 at 1.)1 On January 21, 2004, Petitioner pleaded guilty in the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina to: conspiracy to rob a United States post office and present stolen money orders for payment (Count 1); assault and robbery of a postal employee (Count 2); use of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence (Count 3); conspiracy to use a firearm in relation to a crime of violence (Count 4); theft of money orders (Count 5); and being a felon in possession of a firearm (Count 6). (ECF No. 1 at 1; ECF No. 6-1 at 20–21, 30.) On June 14, 2004, Petitioner was sentenced to a total term of 360 months of imprisonment. (ECF No. 6-1 at 21.) On August 9, 2004, the Fourth Circuit dismissed Petitioner’s appeal. (Id.) On June 29, 2004, Petitioner moved for a new sentencing hearing based on Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296 (2004). The district court denied the request, and on April 17, 2006, the Fourth Circuit affirmed Petitioner’s convictions and sentence. On June 9, 2011, Petitioner filed a § 2255 motion to vacate his sentence, which was dismissed by the district court on December 6, 2011. (ECF No. 6-1 at 21.) On May 3, 2016, the Fourth Circuit granted Petitioner permission to file a successive § 2255 motion to raise a claim pursuant to Johnson v. United States, 135 S. Ct. 2551 (2015). (ECF No. 6-1 at 21.) In his authorized successive motion, Petitioner raised the following claims for relief: (1) Petitioner’s sentence on Count 6 was imposed pursuant to the Armed Career Criminal Act (“ACCA”), in violation of his due process rights; and (2) Petitioner’s sentence was improperly enhanced under the Career Offender provision in § 4B1.2 of the United States Sentencing Guidelines. (Id. at 22–23.) On May 7, 2018, the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina granted Petitioner’s authorized successive § 2255 motion in part, reducing the sentence for Count 6 to 120 months and amending the sentence “to specifically reflect that Louthian was not sentenced under the ACCA.” (Id. at 28.) The district court specifically found “that correcting Louthian’s sentence on Count Six, without conducting a full resentencing, is the appropriate remedy,” and rejected Petitioner’s claim that his sentence was improperly enhanced under the career offender provision of the sentencing guidelines. (Id. at 26, 28.) On June 10, 2019, the Fourth Circuit affirmed. (ECF No. 6-1 at 36–39.) In the instant petition for writ of habeas corpus, Petitioner asserts that he is actually innocent of being a guidelines career offender because his prior South Carolina convictions for assault with intent to kill and assault and battery with intent to kill are no longer qualifying predicates for USSG § 4B1.2 enhancement in light of Mathis v. United States, 579 U.S. 500 (2016), and Descamps v. United States, 570 U.S. 254 (2013). (ECF No. 1.) Respondent filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that Petitioner’s claims may not be raised under § 2241. (ECF No. 6.) Petitioner filed an opposition. (ECF No. 9.) The Court ordered supplemental briefing, and both II. A federal prisoner who wishes to challenge the validity or constitutionality of his federal conviction or sentence must do so by moving the court that imposed the sentence to vacate, set aside, or correct the sentence under 28 U.S.C. § 2255. Alaimalo v. United States, 645 F.3d 1042, 1046 (9th Cir. 2011). “The general rule is that a motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 is the exclusive means by which a federal prisoner may test the legality of his detention, and that restrictions on the availability of a § 2255 motion cannot be avoided through a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241.” Stephens v. Herrera, 464 F.3d 895, 897 (9th Cir. 2006) (citations omitted). Nevertheless, a “savings clause” or “escape hatch” exists in § 2255(e) by which a federal prisoner may seek relief under § 2241 if he can demonstrate the remedy available under § 2255 to be “inadequate or ineffective to test the validity of his detention.” Alaimalo, 645 F.3d at 1047 (internal quotation marks omitted) (quoting 28 U.S.C. § 2255); Harrison v. Ollison, 519 F.3d 952, 956 (9th Cir. 2008); Hernandez v. Campbell, 204 F.3d 861, 864–65 (9th Cir. 2000) (per curiam). The Ninth Circuit has recognized that it is a very narrow exception. See Ivy v. Pontesso, 328 F.3d 1057, 1059 (9th Cir. 2003). The remedy under § 2255 usually will not be deemed inadequate or ineffective merely because a prior § 2255 motion was denied, or because a remedy under § 2255 is procedurally barred. Id. The burden is on the petitioner to show that the remedy is inadequate or ineffective. Redfield v. United States, 315 F.2d 76, 83 (9th Cir. 1963). “An inquiry into whether a § 2241 petition is proper under these circumstances is critical to the determination of district court jurisdiction” because § 2241 petitions must be heard in the custodial court while § 2255 motions must be heard in the sentencing court. Hernandez, 204 F.3d at 865. If the instant petition is properly brought under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, it may be heard in this Court. Conversely, if the instant petition is in fact a disguised § 2255 motion, it must be heard in the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina as the sentencing court. A petitioner may proceed under § 2241 pursuant to the escape hatch when the petitioner “(1) makes a claim of actual innocence, and (2) has not had an ‘unobstructed procedural shot’ at A. Actual Innocence In the Ninth Circuit, a claim of actual innocence for purposes of the § 2255 escape hatch is tested by the standard articulated by the Supreme Court in Bousley v. United States, 523 U.S. 614 (1998). Stephens, 464 F.3d at 898. In Bousley, the Supreme Court explained that “[t]o establish actual innocence, petitioner must demonstrate that, in light of all the evidence, it is more likely than not that no reasonable juror would have convicted him.” 523 U.S. at 623 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). In Marrero v. Ives, 682 F.3d 1190 (9th Cir. 2012), the Ninth Circuit stated that it had “not yet resolved the question whether a petitioner may ever be actually innocent of a noncapital sentence for the purpose of qualifying for the escape hatch.” Id. at 1193. The petitioner in Marrero asserted that he was actually innocent of being a career

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