Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca11-14-11226/USCOURTS-ca11-14-11226-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Mario Anton Lee
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

[DO NOT PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT

________________________

No. 14-11226

Non-Argument Calendar

________________________

D.C. Docket No. 2:98-cr-00006-LSC-TMP-1

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

 Plaintiff-Appellee,

 versus

MARIO ANTON LEE, 

 Defendant-Appellant.

________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Northern District of Alabama

________________________

(January 5, 2015)

Before TJOFLAT, JORDAN and BLACK, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM: 

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In United States v. Lee, Case No. 98-6746 (11th Cir. 2000), we affirmed 

Mario Anton Lee’s 1998 conviction and his prison sentence of 200 months for 

attempting to distribute cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). In doing so, 

we rejected Lee’s arguments that the District Court erred in denying his motion to 

suppress the cocaine law enforcement officers seized during a traffic stop and his 

his motion for judgment of acquittal in which he contended that the Northern 

District of Alabama was an improper venue for the prosecution of his case. In 

September 2001, Lee moved the District Court to vacate his conviction pursuant to 

28 U.S.S. § 2255 on the ground that his attorney had failed to adequately present

his venue objection to the District Court during the prosecution of his case. The 

court denied his motion, and he was denied a certificate of appealability to appeal

the ruling. 

In January 2014, Lee, proceeding pro se, petitioned the District Court for a 

writ of error coram nobis vacating his 1998 conviction and sentence on the ground 

that he was actually innocent of the cocaine offense with which he had been 

convicted. He based his claim on the fact that the traffic stop that led to his 

conviction occurred in Louisiana, not the Northern District of Alabama; therefore, 

he should not have been indicated and charged in Alabama. The District Court, 

concluding that Lee was not entitled to coram nobis relief because his petition 

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failed to show that he was actually innocent of the attempting-to-distribute-cocaine 

offense, denied his petition. He appeals the ruling. We affirm.

The All Writs Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1651(a), provides federal courts the authority 

to issue writs of error coram nobis. United States v. Mills, 221 F.3d 1201, 1203 

(11th Cir. 2000). The writ “is an extraordinary remedy of last resort available only 

in compelling circumstances where necessary to achieve justice.” Mills, 221 F.3d 

at 1203. The writ is available in this case because “the petitioner has served his 

sentence and is no longer in custody, as is required for post-conviction relief under 

28 U.S.C. § 2255.” United States v. Peter, 310 F.3d 709, 712 (11th Cir. 2002). 

But the issuance of the writ is a discretionary call—committed to the court’s sound 

discretion. Alikhani v. United States, 200 F.3d 732, 734 (11th Cir. 2000).

The District Court did not abuse its discretion in denying the writ for Lee

failed to show that he had no other avenues of relief. See Alikhani, 200 F.3d at 

734. Relief was available in his direct appeal of his conviction; in fact, his brief 

presented the same arguments he made in challenging the search that led to the 

cocaine and the purportedly improper venue in the Northern District of Alabama. 

And he raised the same arguments in his September 2001 motion for § 2255 relief. 

The District Court’s denial of coram nobis relief is, accordingly, 

AFFIRMED.

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