Peña v. United States

BENAVIDES, Circuit Judge:

Samuel Peña, a prisoner, filed a motion on March 25,1996, under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 41(e)1 seeking the return of certain property that the United States seized from his home. On August 6, 1996, the United States responded to the motion by stating that the property seized from Peña’s home had been destroyed. Two days later, the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas dismissed the *986action as moot without giving Peña a chance to respond or to amend his pleadings. Proceeding pro se and' in forma pauperis, Peña appealed the dismissal…