United States v. Williams

Williams’s convictions and sentences (480 months) were affirmed in 2000. His collateral attack, 28 U.S.C. 2255, failed. His most recent effort, a “Motion to Correct Record” asks the district judge to revise the presentence report to show that he is not a career offender and to resentence him. The district court denied the motion for lack of jurisdiction. Williams argued that Fed. R. Crim. P. 36 allows courts to correct clerical errors at any time. The Seventh Circuit rejected an appeal. Rule 36 does not authorize a challenge to the substance of judicial decisions. Nor does the presentence report contain a clerical error. Whether the author accurately understood the nature of one of Williams’s convictions is a substantive matter. Defendants who disagree with PSR contents must object before or at sentencing, Fed. R. Crim. P. 32(f)(1), (i)(3). Williams raised the issue indirectly at sentencing but did not ask for a correction under Rule 32 and did not appeal the matter. The district court properly treated this as a section 2255 motion, so that Williams needs a certificate of appealability, which he has not sought. His brief did not identify a substantial constitutional question, as required for a certificate. View "United States v. Williams" on Justia Law