CLD-224 NOT PRECEDENTIAL
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
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No. 11-1929
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DWAYNE LARCEL BROWN,
Appellant
v.
R. MARTINEZ, Warden
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On Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
(D.C. Civil No. 11-cv-00384)
District Judge: Honorable Christopher C. Conner
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Submitted for Possible Summary Action
Pursuant to Third Circuit LAR 27.4 and I.O.P. 10.6
June 30, 2011
Before: RENDELL, FUENTES and SMITH, Circuit Judges
(Opinion filed: August 5, 2011)
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OPINION
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PER CURIAM
Appellant Dwayne Larcel Brown, proceeding pro se, appeals from the District
Court’s dismissal of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241.
For the reasons that follow, we will summarily affirm the judgment of the District Court.
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Brown is presently incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution at
Allenwood, Pennsylvania. In 2004, he pled guilty to bank robbery in the United States
District Court for the Middle District of Florida. He was sentenced as a career offender
to 170 months in prison, followed by supervised release. His direct appeal was dismissed
by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit based on an appeal waiver
clause in his plea agreement. Brown subsequently filed a motion to vacate, set aside or
correct his sentence pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255, which was denied.
Brown then filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C.
§ 2241 in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, where
he was imprisoned. The petition was dismissed, and Brown did not appeal. Brown
returned to the Middle District of Florida, where he attempted to pursue various other
post-judgment remedies. When those were unsuccessful, he initiated the underlying
proceedings by filing a second 28 U.S.C. § 2241 petition. In it he sought to raise a
challenge to his sentence which had not previously been made. Brown alleged that he
was wrongly designated a career offender based on a clerical error in a state court
judgment. Specifically, he averred that in 1997, he was charged with second degree
assault and battery, but pled guilty to the lesser offense of robbery and assault. He stated
that he informed trial counsel of this information during his federal sentencing
proceeding but counsel took no action.
The District Court held that the relief Brown sought might be available to him via
a 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion filed in the district of sentencing. See Okereke v. United
States, 307 F.3d 117, 120 (3d Cir. 2002); Application of Galante, 437 F.2d 1164, 1165
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(3d Cir. 1971). However, since Brown had already filed such a motion, he would have to
meet the requirements of 28 U.S.C. § 2244 in order to be able to file a second or
successive § 2255 motion. See 28 U.S.C. § 2255(h). Brown readily admitted that he
could not overcome this hurdle. Because Brown could not demonstrate that § 2255
provided an inadequate or ineffective remedy, the District Court dismissed his petition.
See Galante, 437 F.2d at 1165. Brown appealed.
We have jurisdiction over this appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and 28 U.S.C.
§ 2253(a). We will summarily affirm the order of the District Court because this appeal
presents no substantial question. See 3d Cir. LAR 27.4 & I.O.P. 10.6. A motion
pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 is the primary means to collaterally challenge a federal
conviction or sentence. See In re Dorsainvil, 119 F.3d 245, 249 (3d Cir. 1997). We have
held that the District Court may not consider claims properly brought under § 2255 in a
§ 2241 habeas corpus petition unless § 2255 would provide an “inadequate or
ineffective” means of relief. See Galante, 437 F.2d at 1165. Section 2255 is not
inadequate or ineffective simply because Brown is prevented by the gatekeeping
requirements of § 2255(h) from litigating his present claims. See Cradle v. United States
ex rel. Miner, 290 F.3d 536, 538-39 (3d Cir. 2002) (per curiam) (“It is the inefficacy of
the remedy, not the personal inability to use it, that is determinative.”). Furthermore, as
the District Court noted, Brown must seek relief in the sentencing court -- in this case, the
Middle District of Florida, and not in the Middle District of Pennsylvania. See Galante,
437 F.2d at 1165.
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For all of these reasons, we will summarily affirm the judgment of the District
Court. See 3d Cir. LAR 27.4 & I.O.P. 10.6.
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