Johnson v. USA - 2255

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA *

v. * Criminal Action No. RDB-18-114 Civil Action No. RDB-19-3065 PERCY EUGENE JOHNSON, *

Petitioner. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * MEMORANDUM ORDER Section 2255 offers relief only to “[a] prisoner in custody.” 28 U.S.C. § 2255(a); see also 9 A.L.R.3d 462 § 3 (“Since a motion to vacate a sentence under 28 U.S.C.A. § 2255 can be maintained only to attack a sentence under which a prisoner is in custody, the case is moot insofar as a § 2255 proceeding is concerned” where the prisoner has been released from custody). “A prisoner on supervised release is considered to be ‘in custody’ for purposes of a § 2255 motion.” United States v. Pregent, 190 F.3d 279, 283 (4th Cir. 1999). Once a prisoner is released from incarceration and is no longer being supervised, his motion no longer presents a live case or controversy and the case becomes moot. Spencer v. Kemna, 523 U.S. 1, 7–8 (1998). In the instant case, when Percy Eugene Johnson filed his Motion to Vacate (ECF No. 63) on October 21, 2019, he was in federal custody and his motion was viable at that time. Since then, however, Johnson has been released from custody1 and is no longer subject to supervision, as his period of Supervised Release expired on March 7, 2024. Also, on March 11, 2022, this Court issued an Order directing Petitioner Percy Eugene Johnson to

1 See Find an Inmate, BUREAU OF PRISONS, available at https://www.bop.gov/inmateloc/# (search by register number: 63905-037). show cause by April 11, 2022 why his § 2255 petition pending in this District should not be dismissed without prejudice, (ECF No. 82), and Johnson did not respond. Accordingly, Johnson’s pending Motion to Vacate Under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (ECF No.

63) is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE. Similarly, his pending Motion to Amend his § 2255 Petition (ECF No. 68) and “Motion for a Longer Stay at Half Way House” (ECF No. 71) are both DENIED AS MOOT. The Clerk of Court is instructed to CLOSE Civil Action No. RDB-19-3065. It is SO ORDERED this 1st day of August, 2024. /s/ Richard D. Bennett United States Senior District Judge