Opinion
Criminal Case No. 15-20351 Civil Case No. 17-13786
01-09-2020
United States of America, Plaintiff/Respondent, v. Waseem Alam, Defendant/Petitioner.
ORDER REGARDING LIMITED EVIDENTIARY HEARING ON MOTION TO VACATE UNDER 28 U.S.C. § 2255 AND PRE-HEARING STATUS CONFERENCE
This is a habeas petition made pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255. Acting through Court-appointed counsel, Petitioner Waseem Alam filed an amended supplemental brief in support of his § 2255 petition.
The statute provides that "[u]nless the motion and the files and records of the case conclusively show that the prisoner is entitled to no relief" the court shall "grant a prompt hearing thereon, determine the issues and make findings of fact and conclusions of law with respect thereto." 28 U.S.C. § 2255(b). As the Sixth Circuit has stated, the burden on the petitioner in a habeas case for establishing an entitlement to an evidentiary hearing is "relatively light." Martin v. United States, 889 F.3d 827, 832 (6th Cir. 2018); see also MacLloyd v. United States, 684 F. App'x 555, 559 (6th Cir. 2017).
Having reviewed Alam's § 2255 petition and other filings, the Court concludes that an evidentiary hearing is warranted as to the following issues: (1) whether Alam's plea counsel advised him that he had waived all of his rights to appellate review; and (2) whether sufficient contemporaneous evidence exists to conclude that there is a reasonable probability that Alam would not have pleaded guilty if he had notice of his plea's potential adverse immigration consequences. See generally United States v. Ataya, 884 F.3d 318 (6th Cir. 2018).
The Court ORDERS that a Pre-Hearing Status Conference will take place on Friday, January 31, 2020 at 3:00pm.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
s/Sean F. Cox
Sean F. Cox
United States District Judge Dated: January 9, 2020