United States v. Ausby

Procedural entryThis page is a short order in United States v. Ausby. Read the opinion of the Court — 275 F. Supp. 3d 7
District Court, District of Columbia·Decided September 27, 2019·No. Criminal No. 1972-0067·Published

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

UNITED STATE OF AMERICA

v. Criminal Action No. 72-67 (BAH) JOHN MILTON AUSBY, Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

The defendant, John Milton Ausby, seeks reconsideration of the portion of this Court’s

ruling entered on July 3, 3019, see United States v. Ausby, No. CR 72-67 (BAH), 2019 WL

2870232 (D.D.C. July 3, 2019), that denied his motion to vacate his 1972 rape while armed

conviction. See Def.’s Mot. to Reconsider Denial of Vacatur of Rape Conviction (“Def.’s

Mot.”), ECF No. 59. As support for reconsideration, the defendant asserts that the Court “clearly

erred in determining it lacked jurisdiction” to vacate the conviction under either 28 U.S.C. §

2255 or a writ of coram nobis. Id. at 1. In addition, he argues that the Court is bound to vacate

his rape conviction by the D.C. Circuit’s mandate in United States v. Ausby, 916 F.3d 1089 (D.C.

Cir. 2019). Id. at 2. For the reasons explained below, the defendant’s Motion to Reconsider is

denied.

I. BACKGROUND

The full factual and procedural background for this case has been set out in prior

decisions, see Ausby, 916 F.3d at 1090–92; Ausby, 2019 WL 2870232, at *1–3; and United

States v. Ausby, 275 F. Supp. 3d 7, 8–24 (D.D.C. 2017), rev’d and remanded, 916 F.3d at 1095,

and thus only a brief review of the facts is provided here. The defendant was originally tried and

1 convicted by a jury in 1972, on one count of felony murder and one count of rape while armed,

for the rape and murder of Deborah Noel. Ausby, 916 F.3d at 1091. He was then sentenced to

life in prison on the felony murder conviction and received a concurrent sentence of 10 to 30

years for his rape while armed conviction. Id.; United States v. Ausby, No. CR 72-67 (BAH),

2019 WL 2452988, at *1 (D.D.C. June 11, 2019). The defendant was also convicted at a

separate trial, in 1973, of murdering two other women, Sharon Tapp and Sherry Frahm; for these

murder convictions he was sentenced to 30-year sentences to run concurrently with his sentence

for the rape and murder of Noel. Ausby, 2019 WL 2452988, at *1. He remains incarcerated

solely for the felony murder conviction as to Noel. Id.

In 2015, the government notified the defendant that expert hair testimony used in his

original trial was “false or misleading,” and “waived any statute of limitations and procedural-

default defenses in the event [the defendant] sought relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2255.” Ausby, 916

F.3d at 1092. In 2016, the defendant filed a Motion to Vacate Conviction under 28 U.S.C. §

2255, arguing that “the government’s knowing presentation of false and misleading expert hair

examination testimony” violated the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment and required

vacatur of “Mr. Ausby’s conviction” under the standard set out in Napue v. Illinois, 360 U.S. 264

(1959). Def.’s Mot. to Vacate Conviction under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, at 1, ECF No. 2. The

defendant’s § 2255 motion was denied after this Court concluded that the “overwhelming

evidence against him” left no “reasonable likelihood” that the outcome would have been

different without the false hair evidence. Ausby, 275 F. Supp. 3d at 32 (internal quotation marks

and citation omitted). The D.C. Circuit reversed, finding that the forensic expert’s false hair-

matching testimony “could . . . have affected the judgment of the jury.” Ausby, 916 F.3d at 1090

(alteration in original) (internal quotation marks omitted) (quoting Napue, 360 U.S. at 271).

2 In coming to that conclusion, the D.C. Circuit explained that under § 2255, “[a] federal

prisoner may move to have his sentence vacated . . . if ‘the sentence was imposed in violation of

the Constitution or laws of the United States,’” id. at 1092 (quoting § 2255(a)), and noted that the

defendant had “fully served his rape sentence, leaving his life sentence for murder,” id. at 1091.

Then, upon finding a Napue violation, the D.C. Circuit ruled that this Court “should have granted

[the defendant’s] § 2255 motion to vacate his conviction,” id. at 1095, and “remanded for

proceedings consistent with [its] opinion” to afford appropriate relief, id. The defendant did not,

and has not, challenged his separate convictions in 1973 for the murders of Sharon Tapp and

Sherry Frahm, sentences he has also fully served. Ausby, 2019 WL 2452988, at *7.

On remand, the government sought to proceed with a new trial, see Min. Entry (Apr. 12,

2019), and the parties were directed to file a joint proposed order to effectuate the D.C. Circuit’s

mandate, see Min. Order (June 7, 2019). The parties proposed vacatur of both of the defendant’s

convictions. See Jt. Filing: Proposed Order Vacating the Conviction, Att. 1 (“Jt. Proposed

Order”) at 3, ECF No. 34-1. Upon consideration of the parties’ response, the Court questioned

sua sponte whether jurisdiction existed to vacate the defendant’s rape while armed conviction

under § 2255, since both the Verdict Form and the Judgment & Commitment Order reflect two

convictions, on two distinct charges, for rape while armed and for felony murder, and the

defendant had fully served his rape while armed sentence at the time he filed his § 2255 motion.

See Min. Order (June 17, 2019). The parties were directed to explain why jurisdiction to vacate

the defendant’s rape while armed conviction was proper. Id. In response, the parties agreed that

the conviction should be vacated, see Jt. Submission Regarding Def.’s Conviction for Rape

(“Parties’ Jt. Submission”) ¶ 1, ECF No. 40, but neither party addressed the jurisdictional issue

in detail. The defendant argued in a footnote that § 2255 conferred jurisdiction, see Def.’s

3 Petition for Writ of Coram Nobis Vacating Conviction for Rape While Armed (“Def.’s Pet.”) at

5 n.2, ECF No. 41, while the government submitted no briefing on the issue. In the alternative,

the parties jointly proposed vacating the rape while armed conviction through a writ of coram

nobis. See Parties’ Jt. Submission ¶ 3. To that end, the defendant filed an unopposed Petition

for a Writ of Coram Nobis. See generally Def.’s Pet.

Upon consideration of these filings, this Court vacated the defendant’s felony murder

conviction, but declined to vacate his rape conviction. Ausby, 2019 WL 2870232, at *8. The

defendant has filed a Motion to Reconsider pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59(e),

arguing that the Court’s denial of vacatur of the rape conviction was clear error. Def.’s Mot. at

1. Following a hearing held on September 19, 2019, that motion is now ripe for review.

II. LEGAL STANDARD

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59(e) allows a party to file “[a] motion to alter or amend

a judgment.” FED. R. CIV. P. 59(e). “A Rule 59(e) motion is discretionary and need not be

granted unless the district court finds that there is an intervening change of controlling law, the

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