Godfrey v. United States of America, No. 1:2021cv04071 - Document 3 (S.D.N.Y. 2022)

Court Description: OPINION AND ORDER: Godfrey's 18 U.S.C. § 924( c) conviction rests on a predicate crime of assault with a dangerous weapon 18 U.S.C. § 1959(a), such an assault incorporates the elements of assault under New York law, assault under New York law requires physical injury to the victim, and there is no evidence that Godfrey injured anyone during the 2014 shooting to which he pleaded guilty. In light of Godfrey's actual innocence to the charged crime and Godfrey's sufficient showing of a reasonable probability that he would not have pleaded guilty to analternative predicate crime of attempted assault, the Court grants Godfrey's Section 2255 motion. (ECF No. 395.) Accordingly, Godfrey's Section 924(c) conviction (ECF No. 312) is vacated and the Bureau of Prisons is directed to release Godfrey immediately. This order, however, is stayed for ten days from the entry of this Opinion and Order to permit the government to file a notice of appeal and seek an additional stay from the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit if it so chooses. SO ORDERED. (Signed by Judge Sidney H. Stein on 7/21/2022) (jca)