US v. Giannone: In 2007, Giannone was convicted at trial of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft for his role in an online community to traded in stolen personal identification information. At issue at trial was whether the Government could link Giannone to the screen names used to setup the transactions. While in prison, Giannone made Freedom of Information Act requests to the Secret Service seeking records related to his case. In 2015, after his release from prison, he received “1000 pages of records.” In 2024, he filed a petition for a writ of coram nobis seeking to reverse his convictions, arguing that the Government had withheld exculpatory evidence at trial. The district court denied the petition as untimely. while also holding that the alleged errors were not “of the most fundamental character” as required for coram nobis relief.
On appeal, the Fourth Circuit affirmed the denial of coram nobis relief. Of the four requirements for coram nobis, all agreed that Giannone met two – there was no other remedy available and he suffered adverse consequences from the conviction. At issue was whether the petition was timely and the nature of the alleged error. The court agreed that the petition was not timely, holding there was no legitimate reason not to file the petition earlier. Recognizing “the effort required to sort through pages of governmental documents,” that did not “justify the eight-year delay” in this case. The court also held that the errors Giannone identified were not of the “most fundamental character,” as while the withheld evidence was favorable to Giannone it was not material, “given the evidence the Government put forth indicating that Giannone was the individual responsible for engaging in the relevant activities.”
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