CLD-295 NOT PRECEDENTIAL

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT

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No. 14-1180

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IN RE: JAMES C. PLATTS,

Petitioner

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On a Petition for Writ of Mandamus from the

United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania

(Related to Cr. No. 2-07-cr-00021-001)

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Submitted Pursuant to Rule 21, Fed. R. App. P.

July 3, 2014

Before: FUENTES, JORDAN and SHWARTZ, Circuit Judges

(Opinion filed )

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OPINION

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PER CURIAM

Pro se petitioner James Platts has filed a petition for writ of mandamus seeking to 

challenge his criminal sentence. We will deny the petition.

After a trial in the Western District of Pennsylvania, a jury found Platts guilty of 

income-tax evasion and nonpayment, and the District Court sentenced him to 60 months’ 

imprisonment. Platts appealed, and we affirmed the judgment. See United States v. 

Platts, 332 F. App’x 725 (3d Cir. 2009). Platts next filed a motion for relief from the 
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judgment under 28 U.S.C. § 2255. The District Court denied that motion, and we refused 

to issue a certificate of appealability. See C.A. No. 10-1438. Platts has since filed two 

applications under 28 U.S.C. § 2244 to authorize the District Court to consider another § 

2255 motion; we denied each of those applications. See C.A. Nos. 12-3870, 13-1120. 

Platts has now filed the instant mandamus petition, claiming that his 60-month sentence 

is unreasonably excessive and the product of improper calculations of the financial loss 

caused by his crimes.

Mandamus is an extraordinary remedy. See Kerr v. U.S. Dist. Court for N. Dist. 

of Cal., 426 U.S. 394, 402 (1976). To obtain mandamus relief, a petitioner must establish 

that “(1) no other adequate means exist to attain the relief he desires, (2) the party’s right 

to issuance of the writ is clear and indisputable, and (3) the writ is appropriate under the 

circumstances.” Hollingsworth v. Perry, 558 U.S. 183, 190 (2010) (per curiam) (internal 

quotation marks, alteration omitted).

Here, Platts presents only claims that he could have presented on direct appeal. 

However, mandamus cannot be used as a substitute for an appeal. Madden v. Myers, 102 

F.3d 74, 77 (3d Cir. 1996). That is, a court will not issue a writ of mandamus where the 

petitioner “could readily have secured review of the ruling complained of and all 

objectives now sought, by direct appeal.” Helstoski v. Meanor, 442 U.S. 500, 506 

(1979). Thus, Platts is not entitled to mandamus relief. 
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Further, a § 2255 motion filed in the sentencing court is the presumptive means for 

a federal prisoner to challenge the validity of a conviction or sentence. See In re 

Dorsainvil, 119 F.3d 245, 249 (3d Cir. 1997). Platts has previously filed a § 2255 

motion, which the District Court denied. If Platts wishes to file a successive § 2255 

motion, he must comply with the gatekeeping requirements prescribed by § 2255(h) and 

28 U.S.C. § 2244. He may not use a mandamus petition to evade these requirements. Cf.

Massey v. United States, 581 F.3d 172, 174 (3d Cir. 2009); United States v. Baptiste, 223 

F.3d 188, 189-90 (3d Cir. 2000) (per curiam).

Accordingly, we will deny Platts’s mandamus petition.