United States v. Morgan ( 2008 )


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  •                               UNPUBLISHED
    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
    No. 08-7169
    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
    Plaintiff - Appellee,
    v.
    LARRY SHANE MORGAN,
    Defendant - Appellant.
    Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western
    District of Virginia, at Abingdon.    Glen M. Williams, Senior
    District Judge. (1:99-cr-00076-gmw-1)
    Submitted:    November 21, 2008            Decided:   December 12, 2008
    Before TRAXLER, GREGORY, and SHEDD, Circuit Judges.
    Vacated and remanded by unpublished per curiam opinion.
    Larry Shane Morgan, Appellant Pro Se.     Eric Matthew Hurt,
    Assistant United States Attorney, Newport News, Virginia, for
    Appellee.
    Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
    PER CURIAM:
    Larry Shane Morgan appeals the district court’s order
    denying     his    motion       for    clarification           of    the     judgment    and
    commitment order entered against him in the Western District of
    Virginia following his conviction for possession of explosives
    and stolen firearms and for maintaining a place to manufacture
    marijuana.        In April 2000, the district court sentenced Morgan
    to a total of 151 months’ imprisonment to be served concurrently
    with a state sentence.            Morgan filed a motion for clarification
    in   May   2008,    in    the    federal      district         court    in    the   Western
    District     of    Virginia,      claiming        that     the      Bureau     of   Prisons
    improperly failed to credit him with a portion of the time he
    served on his state sentence while awaiting sentencing on the
    federal charges.          The district court denied Morgan’s motion for
    clarification,        finding          that       Morgan        failed        to    exhaust
    administrative remedies with the Bureau of Prisons.
    Our review of the record leads us to conclude that the
    district court should have treated Morgan’s motion as a habeas
    corpus     petition      under    
    28 U.S.C. § 2241
           (2000),    because    he
    attacked the execution of his sentence.                             A § 2241 petition,
    however, must be brought in the district of incarceration.                               See
    
    28 U.S.C. § 2241
    (a); In re: Jones, 
    226 F.3d 328
    , 332 (4th Cir.
    2000).      Morgan       is   incarcerated        at     the     Federal      Correctional
    Institution in Butner, North Carolina, which lies in the Eastern
    2
    District of North Carolina.          See 
    28 U.S.C. § 113
    (a) (2000).                    The
    district court in the Western District of Virginia therefore
    does not have jurisdiction over this § 2241 proceeding.
    Accordingly, we vacate the district court’s order and
    remand for the court to determine whether transferring Morgan’s
    § 2241 petition to the proper federal district court would serve
    the   interests     of   justice,    see     
    28 U.S.C. § 1631
          (2000),   or
    whether    the   action    should   be     dismissed     without         prejudice     to
    Morgan’s right to file his action in the appropriate district
    court.     We dispense with oral argument because the facts and
    legal    contentions      are   adequately        presented       in   the    materials
    before    the    court   and    argument     would    not     aid      the   decisional
    process.
    VACATED AND REMANDED
    3
    

Document Info

Docket Number: 08-7169

Judges: Traxler, Gregory, Shedd

Filed Date: 12/12/2008

Precedential Status: Non-Precedential

Modified Date: 10/19/2024