Scott v. Welch, 192 F.2d 676, 4th Cir. (1951)
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Scribd Government DocsScott v. Welch, 192 F.2d 676, 4th Cir. (1951)
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Scribd Government Docs192 F.
2d 676
SCOTT
v.
WELCH.
No. 6344.
United States Court of Appeals Fourth Circuit.
Argued November 12, 1951.
Decided November 27, 1951.
Charles Scott, pro se, on brief.
David E. Satterfield, III, Asst. U. S. Atty., Richmond, Va. (George R.
Humrickhouse, U. S. Atty., Richmond, Va., on brief), for appellee.
Before PARKER Chief Judge, SOPER, Circuit Judge, and CHESNUT,
District Judge.
PER CURIAM.
This is an appeal from an order denying a petition for a writ of habeas corpus.
Appellant is confined in the District of Columbia Reformatory at Lorton,
Virginia, under a sentence imposed by the United States District Court for the
District of Columbia. In his petition for the writ of habeas corpus, he complains
that he was denied various constitutional rights in connection with his arrest,
imprisonment and trial, that he filed a motion under 28 U.S.C. 2255 to vacate
the judgment and set aside the sentence, which was denied, and that application
to appeal in forma pauperis from the denial of the motion was denied on the
ground that the appeal was not taken in good faith. Subsequently the petition
for habeas corpus was filed in the court below. We think it clear that the
petition for habeas corpus was properly denied as an attempt to use that writ in
lieu of an appeal to review the proceedings leading to conviction; but, apart
from this, it was properly denied since it nowhere appears that the motion under
28 U.S.C. 2255 was "inadequate or ineffective" to test the legality of
prisoner's detention. The section provides: "An application for a writ of habeas
corpus in behalf of a prisoner who is authorized to apply for relief by motion
pursuant to this section, shall not be entertained if it appears that the applicant
has failed to apply for relief, by motion, to the court which sentenced him, or
that such court has denied him relief, unless it also appears that the remedy by
motion is inadequate or ineffective to test the legality of his detention."
2
Directly in point is the decision of this court in Meyers v. Welch, 4 Cir., 179
F.2d 707, 708, where we said: "Appellant was imprisoned for the service of his
sentence in the Eastern District of Virginia; and, after the denial of the motion
under 28 U. S.C.A. 2255 by the trial court, he filed in the District Court of
that District the application for writ of habeas corpus from denial of which this
appeal is taken. We think that the application was properly denied. In the first
place, the prisoner has no right to relief by habeas corpus where there exists the
right to relief under 28 U.S.C.A. 2255; and the fact that the motion has been
denied does not give the right to resort to habeas corpus, even if the movant is
entitled to relief, since the remedy in such case is by appeal. Only where the
remedy by motion with appeal therefrom is inadequate or ineffective to test the
legality of the detention may there be resort to habeas corpus."
The fact that appellant has been denied the right to prosecute in forma pauperis
an appeal from the denial of the motion because not taken in good faith does
not mean that the motion was inadequate or ineffective to test the validity of the
imprisonment. It means, on the contrary, that the motion was used for that
purpose, that the imprisonment was held valid on the motion and that the judge
was of opinion that appellant was not appealing in good faith from denial of the
motion. Such denial of right to appeal in forma pauperis affords no basis for
resort to habeas corpus.
Affirmed.
