Case Name: In re: Astarte DAVIS-RICE, Petitioner
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2007-04-16
Citations: 222 F. App'x 135
Docket Number: No. 06-4456
Parties: In re: Astarte DAVIS-RICE, Petitioner.
Judges: Before: McKEE, FUENTES and ROTH, Circuit Judges.
Reporter: West's Federal Appendix
Volume: 222
Pages: 135–135

Head Matter:
In re: Astarte DAVIS-RICE, Petitioner.
No. 06-4456.
United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit.
Submitted Under Rule 21, Fed. R.App. Pro. Nov. 22, 2006.
Filed: April 16, 2007.
Astarte Davis-Rice, Dublin FDC, Dublin, CA, pro se.
Before: McKEE, FUENTES and ROTH, Circuit Judges.

Opinion:
OPINION
PER CURIAM.
Petitioner Astarte Davis-Rice asks that we issue a writ of mandamus compelling the District Court of the Virgin Islands to order her immediate release from federal prison and expungement of her criminal record. Davis-Rice appears to argue that, due to violations of the Uniform Commercial Code by the Government during the course of her current litigation, she should be released from prison and her conviction overturned.
Mandamus is a drastic remedy available only in the most extraordinary of situations in response to an act amounting to a judicial usurpation of power. In re Nwanze, 242 F.3d 521, 524 (3d Cir.2001). A petitioner must show that she has a clear and indisputable right to issuance of the "writ, and it will issue only when the party seeking the writ can show that she has no other adequate means to obtain the relief requested. In re Flat Glass Antitrust Litigation, 288 F.3d 83, 91 (3d Cir. 2002).
A § 2255 motion is the presumptive means for a federal prisoner to challenge his conviction or sentence. Okereke v. United States, 307 F.3d 117, 120 (3d Cir. 2002). Davis-Rice's mandamus petition directly challenges her conviction and sentence and thus should be brought under § 2255. Because it appears that Davis-Rice has another adequate means to pursue her relief, we will deny her petition.