Pines v. United States ( 2019 )

1 Hon. Richard A. Jones 2 3 4 5 6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 7 AT SEATTLE 8 NICHOLAS T. PINES, ) ) CASE NO. 19-CV-512 RAJ 9 ) 17-CR-187 RAJ Defendant-Petitioner, ) 10 ) ORDER GRANTING 28 U.S.C. § v. ) 2255 MOTION AND ORDER 11 ) VACATING JUDGMENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ) WITHDRAWING GUILTY PLEA 12 ) AND DISMISSING INDICTMENT Plaintiff-Respondent. ) 13 ) ) 14 BEFORE THE COURT is Nicholas Pines’ Motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 to 15 16 Vacate, Set Aside, or Correct a Sentence by a Person in Federal Custody. Dkt. No. 1. 17 In 17-CR-187-RAJ, in a judgment imposed on April 6, 2018, Mr. Pines was 18 convicted of one count of felon in possession of a firearm under 18 U.S.C. 19 § 922(g)(1). The alleged predicate conviction was a King County Superior Court 20 21 Juvenile Department disposition for one count of taking a motor vehicle without 22 permission under King County Sup. Ct. No. 00-8-01729-6. Mr. Pines’s petition 23 under § 2255 was based in part on claims of actual innocence and ineffective 24 assistance of counsel because the predicate conviction from Washington State was 25 26 not punishable by a term exceeding one year. ORDER – 1 1 Upon the agreement of the parties, the Court stayed consideration of this 2 matter pending the decision of the Ninth Circuit in United States v. McAdory, 3 No. 18-30112. Dkt. Nos. 9, 13. On August 28, 2019, the Ninth Circuit issued its 4 5 decision in United States v. McAdory, 935 F.3d 838 (9th Cir. 2019). Dkt. No. 15. 6 On November 18, 2019, the Government filed a status report, stating that the Office 7 of the Solicitor General of the United States elected not to seek further review in 8 McAdory, and that based on the Ninth Circuit’s opinion in McAdory, the 9 10 Government would concede Mr. Pines’ motion to vacate his conviction in 17-CR- 11 187-RAJ. Dkt. No. 15. 12 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED: 13 1. Mr. Pines’ Motion to Vacate, Set Aside, or Correct a Sentence by a 14 15 Person in Federal Custody, Dkt. No. 1, is hereby GRANTED; 16 2. The Judgment in a Criminal Case imposed on April 6, 2018, Dkt. No. 17 38 of 17-CR-187-RAJ, is hereby VACATED; 18 3. The plea of guilty entered on January 16, 2018, in accordance with the 19 plea agreement, Dkt. No. 24 of 17-CR-187-RAJ, is hereby WITHDRAWN; 20 21 4. The indictment in 17-CR-187-RAJ. Dkt. No. 13, is DISMISSED 22 WITH PREJUDICE; and 23 24 25 26 ORDER – 2 1 5. The pending petitions for revocation of supervised release and any 2 related sentencing matters for those petitions in 17-CR-187-RAJ are hereby 3 STRICKEN. 4 5 6 DATED this 5th day of December, 2019. 7 A 8 9 The Honorable Richard A. Jones United States District Judge 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 ORDER – 3