Frank Gomez v. United States

Frank R. Gomez, in federal custody under a judgment of conviction and sentence for violation of the narcotic laws, applied to the district court, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (1964), to vacate the judgment of conviction and the plea of guilty, and afford him a new opportunity to plead to the indictment. The district court denied the application without granting Gomez a hearing and he took this appeal.

On March 25, 1959, Gomez was charged, in counts 2 and 3 of a threeccsmt indictment, with the sale of narcotics in violation of 68A Stat. 551 (1954), 26 U.S.C. § 4705 (a) (1958). On April 6, 1959, represented by retained counsel, Gomez pleaded not guilty to these counts. On April 27, 1959, again represented by retained counsel, Gomez changed his plea on count 3 to guilty. On May 15, 1959, he was sentenced to imprisonment for twenty years, a showing having been, made that Gomez had been convicted in 1949, on a plea of guilty, to a previ ous narcotics law violation. Count 2 of the 1959 indictment was thereupon dismissed.

Early in 1961, Gomez filed in the district court an application for relief under section 2255, together with a motion to proceed in forma pauperis and a motion for…