Opinion ID: 165951
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Amended Motion

Text: Respondent, while conceding that it received a copy of Ohiri’s proposed amended § 2255 motion, first suggests that Ohiri may have failed to submit the amended motion to the district court, noting that a copy of the amended motion and accompanying affidavits and attachments is not in the district-court record. 4 4 Ohiri asserts that he mailed the amended motion and supporting documents to the district court on August 15. He has attached a copy of a certified mail receipt dated August 15, 2003 to his reply brief. -9- Without seeing the amended motion, Respondent argues, the district court would have known that Ohiri raised general allegations of ineffective assistance of counsel, but would have had no knowledge of Ohiri’s specific claims. Thus, it could not have abused its discretion in refusing to grant the motion to amend. Respondent is correct that copies of the amended motion and the supporting documents are not in the district-court record. When the district court denied the motion to amend, it wholly failed to discuss Ohiri’s Brady claims and failed to specifically address the expanded ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claims asserted in the amended motion. In Ohiri’s motion, however, he explicitly directs the court to the arguments set forth in the amended motion and “supporting” documents. Accordingly, even assuming that Ohiri failed to properly file the amended motion and accompanying documents, the district court should have been aware that the documents were not in the record and that they were essential to its review of Ohiri’s motion. If the district court denied the motion without reviewing the amended motion, it would not have exercised its duty to examine the underlying facts and circumstances alleged by Ohiri before determining whether the motion to amend should be granted and thus would not have exercised its discretion at all, which is reversible error. See Foman , 371 U.S. at 182. If the district court had not received a copy of the amended motion, it should have notified Ohiri so that it could conduct a proper review of his request. -10-