United States District Court

Eastern District of Michigan

Southern Division

United States of America,

Plaintiff, Case No. 15-CR-20382

v. Honorable Victoria A. Roberts

D-1 Paul Nicoletti,

Defendant.

/

Motion for Permission to File Oversized Brief in Response

to Motion to Vacate under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 [ECF No. 247]

The United States of America respectfully moves this Court for 

permission to file a brief in excess of 25 pages in response to Defendant’s 

Motion to Vacate [ECF No. 247] for the reasons set forth in the attached

brief.

Respectfully submitted,

Dawn N. Ison

United States Attorney

s/Craig A. Weier (P33261)

Assistant United States Attorney

211 W. Fort St., Suite 2001

Detroit, Michigan 48226

313.226.9678

Dated: August 23, 2022

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United States District Court

Eastern District of Michigan

Southern Division

United States of America,

Plaintiff, Case No. 15-CR-20382

v. Honorable Victoria A. Roberts

D-1 Paul Nicoletti,

Defendant.

/

Brief in Support of Government’s Motion for 

Permission to File Oversized Brief in Response 

to Motion to Vacate under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 [ECF No. 247]

PERTINENT FACTS AND PROCEDURAL POSTURE

On June 9, 2022, Nicoletti filed a Motion to Vacate under 28 U.S.C. 

§ 2255, claiming ineffective assistance of counsel. (ECF No. 247). The motion 

raises 24 separate grounds for relief, spanning 33 pages, and was filed with 

attachments which bring the total submission to the Court to over 250 pages. 

(Id.). On June 22, 2022, the Court ordered the government to respond and 

set an initial briefing schedule. (ECF No. 249). On July 13, 2022, the Court, 

on the government’s motion, revised its briefing schedule to require a 

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government response by August 26, 2022. (ECF No. 251). 

BASIS FOR REQUEST TO FILE OVERSIZED BRIEF

E.D. Mich. LCrR 12.1 provides that criminal motion practice is 

governed by E.D. Mich. LR 7.1. The pertinent provision of that rule provides 

that:

The text of a brief supporting a motion or 

response, including footnotes and 

signatures, may not exceed 25 pages. A 

person seeking to file a longer brief may 

apply ex parte in writing setting forth the 

reasons.

E.D. Mich. LR 7.1(d)(3). 

Given the scope of Nicoletti’s argument, that three different attorneys 

were constitutionally ineffective on 24 separate grounds, the government 

cannot adequately respond in a brief limited to 25 pages. Each ground 

requires some factual development and analysis which require a minimum of 

two-pages per ground, on average. Additional text is required to brief the 

applicable law. The government’s draft brief currently contains 

approximately 55 pages of text (which include a brief summary of its 

argument preceding each ground for the Court’s convenience) as well as an 

overview of the law applicable to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 Petitions and ineffective 

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assistance of counsel analysis. 

CONCLUSION

For these reasons, the government respectfully requests that the Court 

permit its filing of an oversized brief to adequately address all of the issues r

raised in Nicoletti’s Motion to Vacate under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (ECF No. 247).

Respectfully submitted,

Dawn N. Ison

United States Attorney

s/Craig A. Weier (P33261)

Assistant United States Attorney

211 W. Fort St., Suite 2001

Detroit, Michigan 48226

313.226.9678

Dated: August 23, 2022

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I certify that on August 23, 2022, I served the foregoing

Motion for Permission to File an Oversized Brief on Paul 

Nicoletti by placing the same in the United States Mail 

addressed to: Paul Nicoletti, Inmate No. 55-819039, Morgantown 

Federal Correctional Institution, Inmate Mail/Parcels, P.O. Box 

1000, Morgantown, West Virginia 26507.

/s/Craig A. Weier

Craig A. Weier

Assistant U.S. Attorney

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