Opinion
Case No. 1:03CR00053
05-06-2016
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. DEBORAH LYNN STEVENSON, Defendant.
Nancy C. Dickenson, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Abingdon, for Defendant.
OPINION
Nancy C. Dickenson, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Abingdon, for Defendant.
The defendant has filed a Motion to Vacate, Set Aside, or Correct Sentence, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255, seeking sentencing relief under Johnson v. United States, 135 S. Ct. 2551 (2015). Upon review of the motion and court records, I find that the § 2255 motion must be dismissed as successive.
This court may consider a second or successive § 2255 motion only upon specific certification from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit that the claims in the motion meet certain criteria. See § 2255(h). Court records indicate that Stevenson previously filed a § 2255 motion concerning this same conviction and sentence, which the court denied. See Stevenson v. United States, No. 7:05CV00013 (W.D. Va. Apr. 19, 2006) (Turk, J.). Because Stevenson offers no indication that she has obtained certification from the court of appeals to file a second or successive § 2255 motion, I do not have jurisdiction to address it and must dismiss it without prejudice.
Records indicate that United States District Judge James C. Turk referred Stevenson's § 2255 action to United States Magistrate Judge B. Waugh Crigler, who conducted an evidentiary hearing on Stevenson's claim that her attorney had failed to file a notice of appeal after she instructed him to do so. Judge Crigler issued a Report and Recommendation, making proposed findings of fact and concluding that counsel did not provide ineffective assistance with regard to Stevenson's right to appeal. See Stevenson v. United States, No. 7:05CV00013, 2006 WL 733935 (W.D. Va. Feb. 22, 2006). Thereafter, Judge Turk adopted the Report and denied § 2255 relief as to the appeal claim. He also concluded that Stevenson had entered a valid guilty plea, pursuant to a written Plea Agreement, by which she waived her right to file a § 2255 action, but not her right to appeal. See also United States v. Stevenson, No. 1:03CR00053, 2011 WL 739433 (W.D. Va. Feb. 24, 2011) (construing motion brought under 28 U.S.C. § 3582 as § 2255 motion and dismissing it as successive under § 2255(h)). --------
A separate Final Order will be entered herewith.
DATED: May 6, 2016
/s/ James P. Jones
United States District Judge