United States v. Richard Elam

JERRY E. SMITH, Circuit Judge:

After failing to appeal either his conviction or sentence, Richard Elam moved for a special discovery hearing concerning the adequacy of trial counsel's representation. The district court denied the request and declined to recharacterize the discovery motion as a 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion. Because the court erred in failing to recharacterize, we vacate and remand.

I

In March 2016, Elam agreed to plead guilty of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846 (2012). As part of the agreement, Elam…