United States v. Victor Todd Budell

TAKASUGI, Senior District Judge:

Victor Todd Budell (“Budell”), who has been institutionalized at the United States Medical Center in Springfield, Missouri, since his plea of not guilty only by reason of insanity, appeals from an order denying his pro se request for a discharge hearing and appointment of counsel. A certificate of appealability was denied by the district court.

We determine that a certificate of ap-pealability was unnecessary because Bu-dell’s letter request was not a motion pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255, and that Budell was effectively denied his statutory right to counsel and,…