United States v. Newsome

• Citation: 257 F. Supp. 201
• Decision Date: 26 August 1966
• Docket Number: Crim. No. 24283.
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America v. Russell E. NEWSOME.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Georgia

257 F. Supp. 201

UNITED STATES of America v. Russell E. NEWSOME.

Crim. No. 24283.

United States District Court N. D. Georgia, Atlanta Division.

August 26, 1966.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Charles L. Goodson, U. S. Atty., Atlanta, Ga., for the United States.

SIDNEY O. SMITH, Jr., District Judge.

The court has received a second request from the prisoner for the complete transcript of his conviction and sentence in the above case. He was convicted before another court and is presently in custody in another District. No writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C.A. § 2242 and no motion in the trial court under 28 U.S.C.A. § 2255 have been filed by the prisoner; nor has any alleged error been claimed or complained of by the prisoner. Apparently, the prisoner seeks all records in connection with his case for the purpose of perusal to ascertain if he can find any error on which to file a writ. The law does not afford such a luxury, even to an indigent prisoner in custody.

Title 28 U.S.C.A. § 2250 authorizes a court to order the Clerk to furnish "such documents or parts of the record on file" as may be required to consider a pending writ. This section presupposes that a writ of habeas corpus or § 2255 application has been filed alleging specific errors. Thus, "a person seeking copies free of charge should set forth sufficient information to enable a determination of the necessity for such copies as are requested, and the pertinency thereof to some matter then pending" (Emphasis supplied). Nunn v. Humphrey, 80 F.Supp. 856 (M.D.Pa. 1948). And further, "an order directing the Clerk of any Court of the United States to furnish to an indigent petitioner certified copies of records on file in his office, without prepayment of costs, may be made only by the Judge of the Court before whom an application for a writ of habeas corpus,¹ in forma pauperis, is pending. The obvious reason for this statutory limitation of authority is because only the Judge of the Court before whom a proceeding is pending is in a position to determine whether it is necessary to impose such a burden upon the Clerk of a Court of the United States and, if so, to limit the copies to be furnished to those records which are pertinent to the issues presented in the case." United States v. Hoskins, 85 F.Supp. 313 (E.D.Ky.1949). The statutes obviously require the exercise of sound discretion by the court to whom application is made. See Chessman v. Teets, 239 F.2d 205 (9th Cir. 1956).

The frequency of such applications causes the court to reiterate that the granting of blanket requests, without payment of costs, for transcripts, records, and other official documents in connection with criminal convictions are not within the purview of the present statutes. The prerequisites are:

(a) The pendency of a writ of habeas corpus or § 2255 proceeding.

(b) The allowance of the same in forma pauperis.

(c) An application to the court in which the proceeding is then pending.

(d) A sufficient showing for that court to make a determination for the necessity of furnishing the desired record at public expense.

(e) An order to the appropriate Clerk by the Court specifying the records to be furnished.

Any court considering a bona fide writ of habeas corpus, or § 2255 proceeding, by an indigent person will certainly require the furnishing of such records, without expense, as will enable a fair determination on the merits.² However, it is not the burden of the public or the intention of Congress to require the preparation and expense of such records without a showing of need or for...