Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_07-cv-01853/USCOURTS-caed-2_07-cv-01853-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 510
Nature of Suit: Prisoner Petitions - Vacate Sentence
Cause of Action: 28:2255 Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus (Federal)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

----oo0oo----

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

NO. CR-S-03-0064 WBS

Plaintiff, [Related Case: CV-S-07-1853 WBS] 

 v. 

JOSEFINA BANAGA, ORDER

Defendant.

----oo0oo----

Defendant Josefina Banaga has filed a motion pursuant

to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 to vacate her conviction and sentence. The

government has moved to dismiss the petition upon the ground

that defendant's direct appeal to the Ninth Circuit is still

pending.

It is undisputed that defendant's direct appeal from

this court's judgment of January 18, 2006 has yet to be

resolved. Apparently at the request of the government, after

defendant's opening brief was filed, the appeal was stayed

pending the outcome of certain Supreme Court and Ninth Circuit

Case 2:07-cv-01853 Document 2 Filed 11/14/07 Page 1 of 3
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cases dealing with the effect of United States v. Booker, 543

U.S. 220 (2005).

When a direct appeal is pending, a district court

should not entertain a §2255 motion. United States v. Deeb, 944

F.2d 545, 548 (9th Cir. 1991); Feldman v. Henman, 815 F.2d 1318,

1320 (9th Cir. 1987) (“[a] district court should not entertain a

habeas corpus petition while there is an appeal pending in this

court or in the Supreme Court”) (emphasis in original); Jack v.

United States, 435 F.2d 317, 318 (9th Cir. 1970); Tripati v.

Henman, 843 F.2d 1160, 1162 (9th Cir. 1987). The reason for

this rule is that “disposition of the appeal may render the

[§2255 motion] unnecessary.” Feldman, 815 F.2d at 1320, quoting

Black v. United States, 269 F.2d 38, 41 (9th Cir. 1959). 

Here especially, one of the arguments asserted in

Banaga’s appeal is that the prosecutor improperly argued that

she had known about the fraud. Her brief states that there “was

no evidence that [] Banaga knew that [her co-defendant] was

submitting false claims.” Appellant's Opening Brief, at 21. 

She claims that her attorney was prepared to call her as a

witness but decided not to do so because the prosecution’s case

was so weak as to be non-existent. Id. at 20. In contrast,

Banaga argues in her § 2255 motion that her trial attorney was

ineffective because he did not call her to testify about her

lack of awareness of the fraudulent nature of her co-defendant’s

activities. Motion to Vacate at 15:9-10.

If the proof at trial was so weak that the prosecutor

could not even argue that Banaga knew about the fraud, there

arguably would have been no need to call her to testify that she

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did not know about the fraud. Under these circumstances, the

risk of inconsistent rulings from this court and the Court of

Appeals is too high to allow this motion to proceed. 

Accordingly, defendant's § 2255 motion will be denied without

prejudice to renewal after her appeal has become final. Since

Banaga is not in custody, she will not be prejudiced by the

delay. Banaga points out further that although she is subject

to deportation as a result of this conviction, those proceedings

have also been stayed pending her appeal.

IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the government's motion

to dismiss defendant's petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 be, and

the same hereby is, GRANTED. Defendants petition to vacate her

conviction and sentence pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 is hereby

DISMISSED, without prejudice to its renewal after her direct

appeal has become final.

DATED: November 13, 2007

Case 2:07-cv-01853 Document 2 Filed 11/14/07 Page 3 of 3