Opinion
CR 112-259
05-18-2017
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, v. ALAN SCOTT HOBBS
ORDER
Presently before the Court is Defendant Alan Scott Hobbs's letter request for the production of "any picture, or pictures, of injuries that Ms. Rachel Jefferies sustained on October 16, 2012, that were in the discovery material, or elsewhere" in this criminal matter. (Doc. 184.)
Defendant was tried and convicted of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in January 2014. The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence. Thereafter, Defendant collaterally attacked his conviction under 28 U.S.C. § 2255. On October 13, 2016, this Court denied the petition, and the case was closed.
To obtain court documents at no cost, a defendant must show that the documents are necessary to decide an issue presented by suit or appeal. See 28 U.S.C. § 753(f) (A defendant may receive a free transcript only if the court "certifies that the suit or appeal is not frivolous and that the transcript is needed to decide the issue presented by the suit or appeal."); see also Jefferies v. Wainwright, 794 F.2d 1516, 1518 (11th Cir. 1986) ("Denial of a free transcript to an indigent defendant is unconstitutional only where the transcript is valuable to the defense and no functional alternatives exist."); United States v. Mitchell, 2008 WL 824226 (M.D. Fla. Mar. 26, 2008) (stating that a criminal defendant is "not statutorily authorized, as a matter of course, to receive a copy of . . . documents free of charge post-appeal"). Here, Defendant does not have a pending collateral proceeding and thus, he is not eligible for any free documents. In fact, this Court denied Defendant's habeas corpus petition in October 2016, and he presently has no motion or petition pending before this Court. Also, Defendant provides no specific reason for obtaining the pictures. Accordingly, Defendant's motion for a free copy of photographs (doc. 184) is DENIED.
The Court assumes Defendant is seeking copies of the "pictures" at no cost because he is indigent and he has not indicated a willingness to pay for the copies.
Although Defendant's request for photographs - not transcripts - is not expressly governed by § 753(f), the standard set forth in § 753(f) may be applied.
In fact, Defendant cannot file a second or successive § 2255 petition in this Court without obtaining prior authorization from the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. See 28 U.S.C. §§ 2255, 2244(b)(3).
The Court notes that photographs of Ms. Jefferies were excluded from the trial of the case and returned to the Government. (See Minutes of Jan. 6, 2014, Doc. 81; and Receipt for Exs., Doc. 91.) The Court file does not contain the requested material, and therefore the Court could not provide them in any event. --------
ORDER ENTERED at Augusta, Georgia, this 18th day of May, 2017.
/s/_________
J. RANDAL HALL, CHIEF JUDGE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA