United States Ex Rel. Thomas v. Gramley

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

ASPEN, Chief Judge.

Pursuant to Rule 60(b)(6), Walter Thomas has moved for reconsideration of our denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. This raises an unusual procedural question: after a litigant’s appeal of a judgment has been docketed, may he bring in the district court a Rule 60(b)(6) motion for relief from that judgment premised on a nondis-positive change in the law which occurred during the pendency of the appeal? We hold that he may not, and we accordingly deny Thomas’s motion.

I. Background

In March, 1988, a jury convicted petitioner Walter…