United States v. Aron Edward Donn

Aron Edward Donn appeals from a judgment denying his second petition for relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 . We affirm in part, but reverse and remand for an evidentiary hearing on one of Donn’s claims.

I

Facts

Donn pleaded guilty to unarmed bank robbery and was sentenced in January 1979 to eight years’ imprisonment. In October 1979 Donn filed a motion pro se pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 to vacate and correct his sentence. Donn asserted that his sentence was illegal because it was based on false information in the presentence report. Donn also stated that he had not been allowed to read the presentence report at or before sentencing and that he had just learned that the report contained erroneous information.

The district court denied the motion on two grounds: (1) that Donn had failed to state what information in the presentence report was false, and thus the court could not determine whether it had relied on this information in sentencing him; and (2) that because the court was sure it had made a copy of the presentence report available to Donn’s counsel, there was no factual basis for Donn’s claim that he had not been allowed to see the report.

Donn did not appeal the denial…