Bowe v. United States · ¶36

In Castro v. United States, 540 U. S. 375 (2003), Castro (a federal prisoner) filed a motion for postconviction relief in Federal District Court. He had previously filed a motion, pro se, attacking his conviction, but he had not specifically labeled it as a §2255 motion. The District Court construed Castro’s previous filing as his first §2255 motion and the second filing before it as a second §2255 motion. Because Castro did not receive authorization from the Court of Appeals before filing the second motion, the court dismissed it. The court, however, granted Castro a certificate of appeal- ability as to its determination that the motion was his second one. See §2253(c). The Court of Appeals later affirmed the dismissal.

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