Alan Eugene Reed v. United States

Reed was found guilty under three counts charging interstate transportation of a kidnapped person in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1201 . The facts of the case are reported in Reed v. United States, 9 Cir., 1966, 364 F.2d 630 . He was not sentenced to death. The present appeal is from the District Court’s denial of a motion to vacate under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 . Reed raises a single issue of law: is his conviction invalid because he did not have, at his trial, the benefits of 18 U.S.C. § 3432 and Rule 24(b) F.R.Crim.P.?

Section 3432 provides:

Rule 24(b) F.R.Crim.P. provides:

In non-capital cases with a penalty exceeding one year in prison the government is entitled to 6 peremptory challenges and the defendant to 10.

The government argues that Reed is not entitled to raise the issue in this section 2255 proceeding because he failed to do so either at trial or on appeal. The District Court was of that opinion, and relied on it as an alternative ground in its decision denying Reed’s motion. The reasoning of the Court in Sunal v. Large, 1947, 332 U.S. 174, 178-180 , 67 S.Ct. 1588 , 91 L.Ed. 1982 , supports the government’s position. Reed labels the claimed error a deprivation of his…