Klein v. United States, 1:09-cv-10048

Petitioner Eric A. Klein was convicted by a jury in 2005 of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and sentenced to 51 months' imprisonment, three years' supervised release, and $819,779 restitution.
Klein has filed numerous post-conviction motions and appeals, including a § 2255 petition and prior coram nobis petitions, all previously denied by this Court and the Second Circuit warned against further frivolous filings.
Klein filed an "order to show cause" motion claiming the Government and trial counsel failed to disclose a prior court decision (Commodity Futures Trading Comm’n v. Probber Int’l Equities Corp.) showing his co-defendant previously used similar deception to trick him into unwitting participation.
The Court determined Klein was no longer "in custody" and therefore treated the filing as a successive petition for a writ of error coram nobis rather than a § 2255 motion.
The Court applied the stringent coram nobis standard: (1) circumstances compelling relief to achieve justice, (2) sound reasons for earlier failure to seek relief, and (3) continuing legal consequences that can be remedied by the writ.
The Court found Klein failed each requirement and denied relief; it also reiterated the Second Circuit's warning that further frivolous filings will trigger sanctions, including leave-to-file restrictions.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Proper procedural vehicle	Klein sought vacatur though no longer in custody; requested "order to show cause"	Court: not in custody so § 2255 inapplicable; treat as coram nobis	Motion construed as successive coram nobis petition and considered by the Court
Availability of previously decided case (Probber)	Probber should have been disclosed/used to show co-defendant's pattern and Klein's unwitting role	Government/Court: failure to disclose a public decision of marginal relevance is not fundamental error; counsel’s failure not dispositive	Probber’s nondisclosure did not constitute error of the most fundamental character; not grounds for coram nobis
Failure to seek earlier relief	Klein argued the evidence was newly discovered/relevant	Court: Klein gave no sound reason for not presenting the case earlier or in prior motions	Court held Klein failed to show sound reasons for earlier failure to seek relief
Continuing legal consequences	Klein implied ongoing consequences from conviction that coram nobis could remedy	Government/Court: Klein did not demonstrate present collateral legal consequences remedied by coram nobis	Court held Klein failed to show continuing legal consequences; petition denied

United States v. Mandanici, 205 F.3d 519 (2d Cir. 2000) (explaining coram nobis is a last-resort remedy and setting burden for relief)
United States v. Payne, 63 F.3d 1200 (2d Cir. 1995) (public records are not "suppressed" when defense counsel could have discovered them)
Jackson v. Conway, 763 F.3d 115 (2d Cir. 2014) (ineffective-assistance claim fails where undiscovered evidence would not have exceptional value)
Commodity Futures Trading Comm’n v. Probber Int’l Equities Corp., 504 F. Supp. 115 (S.D.N.Y.) (prior district-court decision Klein argued showed similar deceptive conduct by co-defendant)