United States v. John Meeks

MEMORANDUM

Petitioner John Meeks appeals the dismissal of his motion to vacate, set aside, or correct his sentence under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 . The district court held that his motion did not qualify as a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 , and dismissed it as an unauthorized second or successive § 2255 motion. We have appellate jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 .

The district court had jurisdiction to determine “the threshold question whether [Meeks’s] petition was properly brought under § 2241 or whether the filing should instead be construed as a § 2255 motion.” Muth v. Fondren, 676 F.3d 815, 818 (9th Cir.2012); see also Hernandez v. Campbell, 204 F.3d 861, 865-66 (9th Cir.2000). We may consider the district court’s determination that a § 2241 petition is not available even though the district court is not the custodial court. See Muth, 676 F.3d at 819 .

The district court did not err when it concluded that Meeks failed to satisfy the requirement of the § 2255(e) escape hatch because Meeks has not plausibly shown that he was actually innocent of the career offender sentencing enhancement under the Armed Career Criminal Act, 18 U.S.C. § 924 (e)(1). Even if it is possible for a…