David Thai v. United States

David Thai (“Thai” or “petitioner”) moved for an order authorizing the district court to consider a second or successive 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion. We reserved decision on the authorization motion and appointed counsel for Thai. We ordered briefing on whether petitioner’s initial § 2255 motion, which the district court dismissed at petitioner’s request, constituted a first petition so as to render subsequent § 2255 petitions “second or successive” under the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) of 1996. See 28 U.S.C. §§ 2244, 2255 (2000). We hold that Thai’s initial § 2255…