Opinion ID: 3062975
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Three Prior Post-Conviction Motions

Text: In 1996, Hernandez was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder for hire, murder for hire, arson and mail fraud. This Court affirmed Hernandez’s convictions and sentences on direct appeal. See United States v. Hernandez, 141 F.3d 1042 (11th Cir. 1998). In October 1999, Hernandez filed his first motion to vacate pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255, which the district court denied on the merits. In March 2004, Hernandez filed a second § 2255 motion, which the district court denied without prejudice because Hernandez had not obtained permission from this Court to file a successive § 2255 motion. In June 2007, Hernandez pro se filed a “Motion for Relief from the Judgment,” in which he argued that his convictions were improper because the district court had dismissed the original indictment. The district court summarily denied the motion. On appeal, this Court noted that if construed as a § 2255 motion, Hernandez’s motion was due to be dismissed as an unauthorized successive motion. However, the Court affirmed the denial on the merits, 1 The availability of habeas relief under § 2241 presents a question of law we review de novo. Cook v. Wiley, 208 F.3d 1314, 1317 (11th Cir. 2000). 2 explaining that the counts upon which Hernandez was convicted and sentenced were in the third superseding indictment, which was not dismissed. United States v. Hernandez, No. 07-13231, slip op. at 3 (11th Cir. Sept. 11, 2008) (unpublished).