Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-alnd-2_16-cv-08035/USCOURTS-alnd-2_16-cv-08035-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 510
Nature of Suit: Prisoner Petitions - Vacate Sentence
Cause of Action: 28:2255 Motion to Vacate / Correct Illegal Sentenc

---

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA

SOUTHERN DIVISION

MICHAEL LEWIS IVORY,

Petitioner,

vs.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Respondent.

)

)

)

)

)

)

)

)

)

Case No. 2:16-CV-8035-SLB

Crim. Case No. 2:03-CR-0394-SLB-HGD

MEMORANDUM OPINION

This case is presently pending before the court on Motion for Relief Under 28 U.S.C.

§ 2255 and United States v. Johnson, filed by petitioner, Michael Lewis Ivory. (Doc. 1;

crim. doc. 52.)

1 This is Ivory’s second habeas petition attacking his convictions and sentence

in his criminal case. He does not have authorization from the Eleventh Circuit to file the

instant Motion; therefore, the court is without jurisdiction. The court finds that Ivory’s

Motion for Relief is due to be denied and this case is due to be dismissed.

BACKGROUND

On or about July 31, 2003, Ivory was indicted on one count of being a felon in

possession of a firearm. (Crim. doc. 1.) After a jury trial, he was found guilty. (Crim. doc.

14.) On May 18, 2004, the court sentenced Ivory as an armed career criminal to a term of

1Citations to documents in the court’s record in petitioner’s Motion to Vacate appear

as “(Doc. __).” Citations to documents in the court’s record in the criminal proceedings

against petitioner, Case No. 2:03-CR-0394-SLB-HGD, appear as “(Crim. Doc. __).” 

Citations to page numbers refer to the page numbers assigned to each document by the

court’s CM/ECF electronic filing system.

FILED

 2017 Jan-24 PM 03:05

U.S. DISTRICT COURT

N.D. OF ALABAMA

Case 2:16-cv-08035-SLB Document 7 Filed 01/24/17 Page 1 of 11
imprisonment of 262 months, with credit for time served in state custody. (Crim. doc. 40.) 

The court found that Ivory had three prior convictions for serious drug offenses.2 The

conviction and sentence were affirmed on appeal on October 6, 2006. United States v. Ivory,

199 Fed. Appx. 896 (11th Cir. 2006).

On September 24, 2007, Ivory filed a Petition Under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 to Vacate, Set

Aside, or Correct, challenging his conviction and sentence based on ineffective assistance

of counsel and prosecutorial misconduct. (Crim. doc. 51.) The court denied his Motion to

Vacate, dismissed his habeas petition, and denied a Certificate of Appealability. Ivory v.

United States, Civil Action No. 2:07-CV-8030-SLB-HGD, doc. 16 (N.D. Ala. (Aug. 22,

2008); id., doc. 18 (Feb. 2, 2009); see also id., doc. 13 [Report and Recommendation] (June

13, 2008). The Eleventh Circuit denied Ivory’s Motion for a Certificate of Appealability.

Ivory v. United States, No. 09-12005-H (11th Cir. July 28, 2009).

2Section 924(e)(2)(A) defines “serious drug offense” to mean:

(i) an offense under the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.),

the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act (21 U.S.C. 951 et seq.), or

chapter 705 of title 46, for which a maximum term of imprisonment of ten

years or more is prescribed by law; or

(ii) an offense under State law, involving manufacturing, distributing, or

possessing with intent to manufacture or distribute, a controlled substance (as

defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802)), for

which a maximum term of imprisonment of ten years or more is prescribed by

law . . . .

18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(2)(A)(i)-(ii).

2

Case 2:16-cv-08035-SLB Document 7 Filed 01/24/17 Page 2 of 11
Ivory filed the instant Motion for Relief on May 4, 2016. (Doc. 1.) He contends,

“Following Johnson,3 Mr. Ivory’s Armed Career Criminal sentence is no longer valid or

sustainable. With the retroactive application of Johnson, decided in WELCH V. UNITED

STATES, no. 15-6418,4the prior convictions, which served as predicates for his ACCA

status, included multiple crimes under the residual clause of the ACCA, and he no longer has

three ‘violent felonies or serious drug felonies’ as required by 18 U.S.C. § 924(e).” (Doc.

1 at 2 [footnotes added].)

DISCUSSION

Section 2244(a) states, “No . . . district judge shall be required to entertain an

application for a writ of habeas corpus to inquire into the detention of a person pursuant to

a judgment of a court of the United States if it appears that the legality of such detention has

been determined by a judge or court of the United States on a prior application for a writ of

habeas corpus, except as provided in section 2255.”

5

28 U.S.C. § 2244(a)(footnote added).

3

Johnson v. United States, 135 S. Ct. 2551 (2015).

4Welch v. United States, 136 S. Ct. 1257 (2016).

5Section 2255(h) states:

A second or successive motion must be certified as provided in section 2244

by a panel of the appropriate court of appeals to contain – 

(1) newly discovered evidence that, if proven and viewed in light of

the evidence as a whole, would be sufficient to establish by clear and

convincing evidence that no reasonable factfinder would have found

the movant guilty of the offense; or

3

Case 2:16-cv-08035-SLB Document 7 Filed 01/24/17 Page 3 of 11
“Before a second or successive application permitted by this section is filed in the district

court, the applicant shall move in the appropriate court of appeals for an order authorizing

the district court to consider the application.” Id. (b)(3)(A). “Without authorization, the

district court lacks jurisdiction to consider a second or successive petition.” United States

v. Holt, 417 F.3d 1172, 1175 (11th Cir. 2005)(citing Farris v. United States, 333 F.3d 1211,

1216 (11th Cir. 2003)). “[Section] § 2244(a) applies to any petition for habeas relief

attacking the legality of the same detention, and § 2244(b)(3) requires that the petitioner

obtain permission from the court of appeals before filing any second or successive petition

attacking the same detention.” McKinney v. Warden, FCC Coleman-Medium, 870 F. Supp.

2d 1351, 1354 (M.D. Fla. 2012)(citing Darby v. Hawk-Sawyer, 405 F.3d 942 (11th

Cir.2005)), aff'd, 562 Fed. Appx. 917 (11th Cir. 2014).

Because Ivory had previously filed a § 2255 habeas petition that challenged his

conviction and sentence, he was required to have authorization from the Eleventh Circuit

before filing his instant Motion for Relief. Ivory alleges, however, that the “instant petition

is not a second or successive petition . . . . Mr. Ivory’s petition is based solely on the recent

opinion of the Supreme Court in Johnson. . . . Thus, he now seeks habeas relief based

[entirely] on a claim, which was unavailable at the time of his previous[ ] habeas petition.” 

(2) a new rule of constitutional law, made retroactive to cases on

collateral review by the Supreme Court, that was previously

unavailable.

28 U.S.C. § 2255(h)(emphasis added).

4

Case 2:16-cv-08035-SLB Document 7 Filed 01/24/17 Page 4 of 11
(Doc. 1 at 4.) Although Johnson and Welch may provide a basis for the Eleventh Circuit’s

grant of authorization to file a second or successive application,

6

these decisions do not

excuse a petitioner from first seeking such authorization before filing a second or successive

habeas application.

Congress did not define the phrase “second or successive motion” used in § 2255(h);

however, the Supreme Court has “declined to interpret ‘second or successive’ as referring

to all § 2254 [or § 2255] applications filed second or successively in time.” Panetti v.

Quarterman, 551 U.S. 930, 944 (2007)(emphasis added); see also Stewart v. United States,

646 F.3d 856, 860 n.6 (11th Cir. 2011)(“Because of the similarities between the provisions

governing second or successive petitions under § 2254 and second or successive motions

under § 2255, precedent interpreting one of these parallel restrictions is instructive for

interpreting its counterpart.”). The Eleventh Circuit has “recognized the existence of ‘a small

subset of unavailable claims that must not be categorized as successive,’ but [Ivory’s] claim

is not one of them.”

7 Ellis v. United States, 593 Fed. Appx. 894, 896-97 (11th Cir.

2014)(citing Stewart, 646 F.3d at 863 (11th Cir. 2011)(petition filed after state-court

conviction used to enhance sentence was vacated was not successive)).

6

See 28 U.S.C. § 2255(h)(2).

7Among the “types of collateral challenges [that] do not render subsequent habeas

petitions ‘second or successive,’” are claims that are not ripe until after the first in time

habeas petition is filed and § 2254 claims dismissed based on a failure to exhaust state

remedies. See Bond v. Sec'y of Dep't of Corr., No. 5:13-CV-274-WS/EMT, 2014 WL

3819201, *3 n.2 (N.D. Fla. Aug. 4, 2014)(citing, inter alia, Panetti, 551 U.S. at 945; Slack

v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 486-87 (2000)).

5

Case 2:16-cv-08035-SLB Document 7 Filed 01/24/17 Page 5 of 11
“To determine whether a prisoner’s petition is second or successive, [the court] must

look to whether the petitioner previously filed a federal habeas petition challenging the same

judgment.”

8 Rivera v. Sec'y, Florida Dep't of Corr., No. 15-15709, 2016 WL 6677629, *1

(11th Cir. Nov. 14, 2016)(citing Insignares, 755 F.3d at 1278). A habeas petitioner,

challenging the same judgment as an earlier-filed petition that was decided on the merits,

must receive authorization from the Eleventh Circuit before filing his second or successive

habeas application for relief. Maxwell v. United States, No. 3:09-CR-38-J-32MCR, 2016

WL 345519, *2 (M.D. Fla. Jan. 28, 2016)(citing Burton v. Stewart, 549 U.S. 147, 153

(2007), Boyd v. United States, 754 F.3d 1298, 1302 (11th Cir. 2014), and United States v.

Holt, 417 F.3d 1172, 1175 (11th Cir. 2005)); see also Garcia v. United States, No. CR

04-147-CG-N, 2015 WL 5608247, *3 (S.D. Ala. Aug. 26, 2015)(“To the extent the present

motion is construed as an attack on [defendant’s] underlying conviction and sentence, that

means he will have ‘twice brought claims contesting the same custody imposed by the same

judgment of [this C]ourt. As a result, under AEDPA, he [i]s required to receive authorization

from the Court of Appeals before filing his second challenge.’” (quoting Burton, 549 U.S.

at 153)),report and recommendation adopted, 2015 WL5602446 (S.D. Ala. Sept. 21, 2015).

“This authorization is required even when, as here, a defendant asserts that his

motion is based on the existence of a new rule of constitutional law, made retroactive to

8

“[T]here is only one judgment, and it is comprised of both the sentence and the

conviction.” Insignares v. Sec'y, Fla. Dept. of Corr., 755 F.3d 1273, 1281 (11th Cir. 2014).

6

Case 2:16-cv-08035-SLB Document 7 Filed 01/24/17 Page 6 of 11
cases on collateral review by the Supreme Court, that was previously unavailable.”

9

United States v. Mitchell, No. 3:03CR57/LAC/CJK, 2015 WL 5635001, *2 (N.D. Fla. Aug.

9

Ivory, citingPetaway v. United States, 104 F. Supp. 3d 855 (N.D. Ohio 2015), argues

that his claim was “unavailable and unripe until . . . Johnson was issued.” (Doc. 1 at 3-4.) 

However, this argument is not supported by the holding in Petaway. The court in Petaway

held:

“But what makes a claim unripe,” at least for purposes of the exception

to the bar on second or successive motions, “is that the factual predicate has

not matured, not that the law was unsettled” or has changed. U.S. v.

Claycomb, 577 Fed. Appx. 804, 805 (10th Cir.2014); see id. (claim that

district court, rather than jury, found facts needed to impose mandatory

minimum sentence “had matured by the time sentence was imposed,” even

though defendant's sentencing and first § 2255 motion predated Alleyne v.

U.S., ––– U.S. ––––, 133 S. Ct. 2151, 186 L. Ed. 2d 314 (2013)); U.S. v.

Hairston, 754 F.3d 258, 262 (4th Cir. 2014)(numerically second petition not

“second or successive” where movant alleged that, after his first round of §

2255 review ended, state courts vacated a conviction used to calculate

Guidelines range); U.S. v. Obeid, 707 F.3d 898, 902 (7th Cir. 2013) (claim is

“genuinely unripe” only “where the factual predicate that gives rise to the

claim has not yet occurred”); Leal Garcia v. Quarterman, 573 F.3d 214, 223

(5th Cir. 2009) (new claim is “non-successive . . . if the defect that it attacks

did not arise until after the prior habeas proceeding”).

Here, Petaway's claims were ripe for adjudication during his first round

of collateral review, in 1997. Indeed, Petaway raised his current ineffectiveassistance claimin the first § 2255 motion. Moreover, the factual predicate for

challenging the use of his prior convictions to calculate his criminal history

category was available at sentencing.

For these reasons, I conclude Petaway's numerically second § 2255

motion is, in fact, “second or successive.”

Petaway, 104 F. Supp. 3d at 857-58 (emphasis added).

7

Case 2:16-cv-08035-SLB Document 7 Filed 01/24/17 Page 7 of 11
20, 2015)(emphasis added), report and recommendation adopted 2015 WL 5674849 (N.D.

Fla. Sept. 22, 2015).

The court rejects Ivory’s contention that this habeas proceeding is not a second or

successive proceeding and, because he has not been granted authorization to file a second

or successive petition, the court is without jurisdiction and his Motion will be denied.

As an alternative to dismissal, Ivory asks the court to “forward the petition to the

Eleventh Circuit for certification.” (Doc. 1 at 4.) Federal law allows this court to transfer

this case to another federal court if it “finds that there is a want of jurisdiction” and such

transfer “is in the interest of justice.” 28 U.S.C. § 1631. Because the court finds that Ivory

cannot establish a prima facie case for relief pursuant to Johnson, transfer to the Eleventh

Circuit is not in the interest of justice. See Phillips v. Seiter, 173 F.3d 609, 610 (7th Cir.

1999)(“[T]here is no reason to raise false hopes and waste judicial resources by transferring

a case that is clearly doomed . . . .”).

With regard to an application to file a second or successive application based on

Johnson and Welch, the Eleventh Circuit has held:

[F]ederal prisoners who can make a prima facie showing that they previously

were sentenced, at least in part, in reliance on the ACCA's now-voided

residual clause are entitled to file a second or successive § 2255 motion in the

district court. See In re Robinson, 822 F.3d 1196, 1197 (11th Cir. 2016).

However, merely alleging a basis that meets § 2255(h)'s requirements in the

abstract only “represent[s] the minimum showing” necessary to file a

successive § 2255 motion because, under § 2244(b)(3)(C), the applicant also

must make “a prima facie showing that the application satisfies the

requirements of this subsection.” In re Holladay, 331 F.3d 1169, 1173 (11th

Cir. 2003). Accordingly, it appears that it is not enough for a federal prisoner

to simply identify Johnson as the basis for the claim or claims he seeksto raise

8

Case 2:16-cv-08035-SLB Document 7 Filed 01/24/17 Page 8 of 11
in a second or successive § 2255 motion, as he also must show that he falls

within the scope of the new substantive rule announced in Johnson. See, e.g.,

id.; 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b)(3)(C).

In re Moore, 830 F.3d 1268, 1270–71 (11th Cir. 2016). “When . . . it is clear based on the

sentencing court's finding in sentencing the defendant that each predicate conviction

qualified under the ACCA's elements or enumerated crimes clause, or as a serious drug

offense, or binding on-point precedent dictated that the predicate offenses categorically

qualified under one ofthese other clauses, then [the defendant’s] application [to file a second

or successive habeas application] does not ‘contain’ a Johnson claim. In these limited

circumstances, his application is due to be denied.” In re Rogers, 825 F.3d 1335, 1340 (11th

Cir. 2016)(emphasis in original).

In Johnson, the Supreme Court held that the residual clause of the definition of a

“violent felony” in the Armed Career Criminal Act [“ACCA”], 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(2)(B)(ii),

was void for vagueness. Johnson, 135 S. Ct. at 2563. The Court also held, “Today's

decision does not call into question application of the [ACCA] to the four enumerated

offenses, or the remainder of the Act’s definition of a violent felony.” Id. It did not discuss

the definition of “serious drug offense” set forth in § 924(e)(2)(A).

In this case, the record clearly establishes that Ivory’s enhanced sentence under the

ACCA was the result of three “serious drug offenses” – a state court conviction for selling,

furnishing, or giving away cocaine, and two federal convictions for possession with intent

to distribute cocaine. (Crim. doc. 46 at 12; see also crim. doc. 38 [sealed] at 6-10; crim. doc.

30 at 2 [Ivory conceded he had two prior convictions for serious drug offenses and he

9

Case 2:16-cv-08035-SLB Document 7 Filed 01/24/17 Page 9 of 11
argued, erroneously, that another conviction for a serious drug offense had been reversed by

the Eleventh Circuit].) Ivory was not sentenced under the ACCA based on a prior conviction

for a felony conviction; rather, his enhanced sentence was based on three convictions for

serious drug offences. Therefore, he has no Johnson claim. Under the circumstances,

transfer of the case to the Eleventh Circuit for that court to consider authorizing a second or

successive habeas petition on the basis of Johnson is not in the interest of justice because

Ivory is not entitled to any relief based on the holding in Johnson voiding the residual clause

of the ACCA.

CONCLUSION

For the foregoing reasons, the court is of the opinion that it lacks jurisdiction to

determine Ivory’s Motion for Relief and that transfer of this matter to the Eleventh Circuit

Court of Appeals is not in the interest of justice. An Order denying Ivory’s Motion for Relief

and dismissing this case will be entered contemporaneously with this MemorandumOpinion.

CERTIFICATE OF APPEALABILITY

Rule 11 of the Rules Governing § 2255 Proceedings, provides, “The district court

must issue or deny a certificate of appealability when it enters a final order adverse to the

applicant.” The applicant for § 2255 relief “cannot take an appeal unless a circuit justice or

a circuit or district judge issues a certificate of appealability under 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c).” 

Fed. R. App. P. 22(b)(1). And, the “certificate of appealability may issue . . . only if the

applicant has made a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right.” 28 U.S.C.

10

Case 2:16-cv-08035-SLB Document 7 Filed 01/24/17 Page 10 of 11
§ 2253(c)(2)(emphasis added). To make a substantial showing of the denial of a

constitutional right, the applicant must show “that reasonable jurists could debate whether

(or, for that matter, agree that) the petition should have been resolved in a different manner

or that the issues presented were adequate to deserve encouragement to proceed further.” 

Miller–El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322, 336 (2003)(citations and internal quotations omitted).

The court lacks jurisdiction to entertain Ivory’s second habeas petition without

authorization from the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals and transfer that court is not in the

interest of justice as Johnson and Welch are not applicable to Ivory’s sentence. Reasonable

jurists could not disagree. Also, Ivory has not demonstrated that the issue he raises is

reasonably debatable and/or deserves encouragement to proceed further. Therefore, issuance

of a certificate of appealability is not warranted in this case.

DONE this 24th day of January, 2017.

SHARON LOVELACE BLACKBURN

SENIOR UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

11

Case 2:16-cv-08035-SLB Document 7 Filed 01/24/17 Page 11 of 11