Filed: Oct. 30, 2018
Latest Update: Mar. 03, 2020
Summary: Case: 18-11561 Date Filed: 10/30/2018 Page: 1 of 4 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT _ No. 18-11561 Non-Argument Calendar _ D.C. Docket Nos. 9:17-cv-81045-DMM; 9:07-cr-80125-DMM-1 NASSER GHELICHKHANI, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Defendant-Appellee. _ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida _ (October 30, 2018) Before WILSON, WILLIAM PRYOR, and HULL, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Case
Summary: Case: 18-11561 Date Filed: 10/30/2018 Page: 1 of 4 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT _ No. 18-11561 Non-Argument Calendar _ D.C. Docket Nos. 9:17-cv-81045-DMM; 9:07-cr-80125-DMM-1 NASSER GHELICHKHANI, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Defendant-Appellee. _ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida _ (October 30, 2018) Before WILSON, WILLIAM PRYOR, and HULL, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Case:..
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Case: 18-11561 Date Filed: 10/30/2018 Page: 1 of 4
[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
________________________
No. 18-11561
Non-Argument Calendar
________________________
D.C. Docket Nos. 9:17-cv-81045-DMM; 9:07-cr-80125-DMM-1
NASSER GHELICHKHANI,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
versus
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Defendant-Appellee.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Florida
________________________
(October 30, 2018)
Before WILSON, WILLIAM PRYOR, and HULL, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Case: 18-11561 Date Filed: 10/30/2018 Page: 2 of 4
Nasser Ghelichkhani, proceeding pro se, appeals the dismissal of his petition
for a writ of coram nobis under 28 U.S.C. § 1651(a) as untimely. He argues that
his petition was timely because severe stress prevented him from filing his petition
within seven years of his release from federal custody. He also asserts that some
of the facts stated in his petition were previously unknown to him and that he
feared that his case would be remanded for further criminal proceedings. We
affirm the district court’s dismissal of Ghelichkhani’s petition for a writ of coram
nobis.
I.
We review a district court’s denial of coram nobis relief for abuse of
discretion. United States v. Peter,
310 F.3d 709, 711 (11th Cir. 2002).
The All Writs Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1651(a), provides a federal court with
authority to issue a writ of error coram nobis, which allows a petitioner to vacate a
conviction after he has served his entire sentence. United States v. Mills,
221 F.3d
1201, 1203 (11th Cir. 2000);
Peter, 310 F.3d at 712. Coram nobis relief is
available after the sentence has been served because “the results of the conviction
may persist. Subsequent convictions may carry heavier penalties, civil rights may
be affected.” United States v. Morgan,
346 U.S. 502, 512–13 (1954). The coram
nobis writ is an extraordinary remedy that is only available where (1) no other
avenue of relief is or was available, and (2) the petitioner presents a fundamental
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Case: 18-11561 Date Filed: 10/30/2018 Page: 3 of 4
error that made his criminal proceedings irregular and invalid. Id.; Alikhani v.
United States,
200 F.3d 732, 734 (11th Cir. 2000). In addition, the petitioner must
present “sound reasons for failing to seek relief earlier.”
Mills, 221 F.3d at 1204.
The district court did not abuse its discretion in dismissing Ghelichkhani’s
petition for a writ of coram nobis as untimely. Ghelichkhani failed to provide any
sound reasons as to why he waited over seven years after he was released from
federal custody to file his petition.
Mills, 221 F.3d at 1204;
Peter, 310 F.3d at 711.
Ghelichkhani’s claim that he was unable to file his petition sooner because he was
unable to think about his criminal proceedings without suffering severe stress is
belied by his prior litigation history. Ghelichkhani is a prolific pro se filer. His
litigation history reveals that he has filed multiple pro se collateral attacks on his
conviction and sentences, including a premature motion to vacate under 28 U.S.C.
§ 2255, a petition for habeas corpus, and numerous motions requesting sentence
reductions, immediate release, or the disqualification or recusal of the district court
judge.
Ghelichkhani’s claim that some of the facts relied upon in his petition were
previously unknown to him earlier is similarly unconvincing. He fails to state
what facts were unknown to him or why they were not previously discoverable.
Without presenting sound reasons for failing to seek relief earlier, Ghelichkhani is
not entitled to relief by writ of coram nobis. See
Morgan, 346 U.S. at 512–13.
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Case: 18-11561 Date Filed: 10/30/2018 Page: 4 of 4
Moreover, Ghelichkhani fails to show that no other avenue for relief is or
was available to him, or that there was a fundamental error that made his criminal
proceedings irregular or invalid.
Alikhani, 200 F.3d at 734. Accordingly, the
district court did not abuse its discretion, and we affirm.
AFFIRMED.
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