Supreme Court Report

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Samuel Elliott v. United States

IFP petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, No. 25-2018 · judgment November 13, 2025


Certiorari denied · March 23, 2026

Question presented

​Q​U ​ ESTION​ ​P​​RESENTED​ ​FOR​ ​R​E ​ VIEW​ ​Petitioner​​sought​​relief​​under​​28​​U.S.C.​​§ 2255​​on​​grounds​​of​​ineffective​ ​assistance​ ​arising​ ​from​ ​errors​ ​and​ ​omissions​ ​by​ ​counsel​ ​pertaining​ ​to​ ​both​ ​custody​ ​and​ ​a​ ​restitution​ ​amount​ ​of​ ​$730,000.00.​ ​The​ ​courts​ ​below​ ​denied​ ​the​ ​restitution-related​ ​claim​ ​on​ ​grounds​ ​that​ ​relief​ ​under​ ​§​ ​2255​ ​is​ ​not​ ​available​ ​for​ ​ineffective​ ​assistance​ ​related​ ​to​ ​restitution.​ ​Would​ ​reasonable​ ​jurists​ ​find​ ​the​ ​denial​ ​of​ ​Petitioner’s​ ​ineffective​ ​assistance​ ​claim​ ​on​ ​these​ ​grounds debatable or wrong?​ ​2​

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Scott M. Davidson
Scott M. Davidson, Ph.D., Esq., LLC

For respondent
D. John Sauer
Solicitor General

Case

Subject area
Criminal Procedure (estimated from the questions presented, in the Supreme Court Database’s categories)

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Order
Order list, March 23, 2026 · Certiorari denied

Proceedings

  1. Mar 23 2026
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Feb 26 2026
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 3/20/2026.
  3. Feb 20 2026
    Waiver of right of respondent United States to respond filed.
  4. Feb 11 2026
    Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due March 19, 2026)