Filed: Feb. 12, 2018
Latest Update: Mar. 03, 2020
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 17-7196 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. KIERON MATTHEW WILLIAMS, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Baltimore. George L. Russell, III, District Judge. (1:14-cr-00596-GLR-1) Submitted: January 31, 2018 Decided: February 12, 2018 Before GREGORY, Chief Judge, and DUNCAN and FLOYD, Circuit Judges. Vacated and remanded by unpublished per curiam opi
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 17-7196 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. KIERON MATTHEW WILLIAMS, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Baltimore. George L. Russell, III, District Judge. (1:14-cr-00596-GLR-1) Submitted: January 31, 2018 Decided: February 12, 2018 Before GREGORY, Chief Judge, and DUNCAN and FLOYD, Circuit Judges. Vacated and remanded by unpublished per curiam opin..
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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 17-7196
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
KIERON MATTHEW WILLIAMS,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Baltimore.
George L. Russell, III, District Judge. (1:14-cr-00596-GLR-1)
Submitted: January 31, 2018 Decided: February 12, 2018
Before GREGORY, Chief Judge, and DUNCAN and FLOYD, Circuit Judges.
Vacated and remanded by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Kieron Matthew Williams, Appellant Pro Se. Matthew Corey Sullivan, Assistant United
States Attorney, James G. Warwick, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY,
Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Kieron Matthew Williams appeals the district court’s order denying his motion to
proceed pro se in his 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (2012) motion. Although such an order is not
final, for the reasons stated by the majority of our sister courts that have addressed the
issue, we proceed under the assumption that an order denying a civil litigant’s right to
self-representation is immediately appealable under the collateral order doctrine. See,
e.g., Devine v. Indian River Cty. Sch. Bd.,
121 F.3d 576, 579 (11th Cir. 1997) (collecting
cases), abrogated in part on other grounds by Winkelman ex rel. Winkelman v. Parma
City Sch. Dist.,
550 U.S. 516 (2007). The district court offered no explanation for
denying Williams’ motion to proceed pro se. Because, on the current record, we are
unable to discern any independent rationale supporting the district court’s order, we
cannot assess the propriety of the court’s ruling.
Consequently, we vacate the district court’s order and remand to allow the district
court to explain or reassess its ruling. We dispense with oral argument because the facts
and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this court and
argument would not aid the decisional process.
VACATED AND REMANDED
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