Source: http://openjurist.org/325/f3d/205
Timestamp: 2015-03-06 11:08:33
Document Index: 168587529

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1623', '§ 2254', '§ 1623', '§ 2244', '§ 2244', '§ 2244', '§ 2244']

325 F3d 205 United States v. Johnson | OpenJurist
325 F. 3d 205 - United States v. Johnson	Home325 f3d 205 united states v. johnson
325 F3d 205 United States v. Johnson 325 F.3d 205
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee,v.Joseph JOHNSON, Jr., Defendant-Appellant.
No. 02-4425.
Decided: April 9, 2003.
ARGUED: Frances Hemsley Pratt, OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER, Alexandria, Virginia, for Appellant. Michael Cornell Wallace, Assistant United States Attorney, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Frank W. Dunham, Jr., Federal Public Defender, Michael S. Nachmanoff, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Alexandria, Virginia, for Appellant. Paul J. McNulty, United States Attorney, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellee.
Joseph Johnson, Jr. was convicted in a bench trial on two counts of violating 18 U.S.C. § 1623, which criminalizes the making of false declarations before a court. Johnson filed two documents with the district court that contained false material declarations: a petition for habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 and a court ordered response to the state's Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(e) motion for a more definite statement. We hold that both of the submissions constitute "proceedings before ... any court" under 18 U.S.C. § 1623 and affirm the judgment.
On April 21, 1993, Joseph Johnson, Jr. pled guilty to unlawful entry in the Circuit Court for Arlington, Virginia. He received a suspended sentence and was placed on probation. In April 1996, Johnson violated the terms of his probation. His previously suspended sentence was revoked, and Johnson failed to file a timely appeal.
Johnson filed his first federal habeas petition challenging his 1993 conviction in September 1998 in the district court of Virginia. However, on April 24, 1996, Congress passed the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act ("AEDPA"), which amended 28 U.S.C. § 2244 to establish a one year period of limitations for the filing of a petition for writ of habeas corpus by a person in custody pursuant to the judgment of a state court. 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d) (2003). Because Johnson's state court conviction was final prior to the enactment of AEDPA, Johnson had one full year after the enactment of AEDPA, that is until April 24, 1997, to file a federal habeas petition. See id.; Brown v. Angelone, 150 F.3d 370, 375 (4th Cir.1998). The district court therefore denied and dismissed his September 1998 petition as barred by the statute of limitations.
Johnson then filed a second habeas petition challenging his 1993 conviction. Although the petition was not filed until March 28, 2000, it was dated March 7, 1997, and notarized by Latisha Jackson, Prince George's County, Maryland, on March 24, 1997. In the petition, Johnson was required to answer a question asking whether, "[o]ther than a direct appeal from the judgment of conviction and sentence, [has the petitioner] previously filed any petitions, applications, or motions with respect to this judgment in any court, state or federal?" Johnson answered "no."
Under 28 U.S.C. § 2244, a petitioner cannot file a second or successive habeas application without first obtaining an order from the appropriate court of appeals authorizing him to do so. 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b)(3)(A) (2003). Because Johnson had not obtained such an order, the government moved to dismiss the petition as successive. Johnson responded that the March 2000 petition was not successive because it was actually delivered to prison authorities "as early as March, 1997" and was thus technically filed before the September 1998 petition.
The state then filed a motion requesting a more definite statement. See Fed. R.Civ.P. 12(e). Specifically, the state requested that Johnson set forth more precise details regarding when the March 2000 petition was delivered to prison authorities, the facility where Johnson was confined when he delivered the petition, and the name of the official to whom the petition was delivered. The court granted the state's motion.
Johnson submitted, under penalty of perjury, a more definite statement to the court. In it, Johnson declared that he delivered th