In re: In Re: Kenneth Burke

Filing

NOT PRECEDENTIAL PER CURIAM OPINION Coram: AMBRO, GREENAWAY JR. and SCIRICA, Circuit Judges. Total Pages: 2. BLD-075

Case: 16-3647

Document: 003112523967

Page: 1

BLD-075

Date Filed: 01/27/2017

NOT PRECEDENTIAL
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
___________
No. 16-3647
___________
IN RE: KENNETH BURKE,
Petitioner
____________________________________
On a Petition for Writ of Mandamus from the
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
(Related to E.D. Pa. Civ. No. 2-12-cr-00313-001)
____________________________________
Submitted Pursuant to Rule 21, Fed. R. App. P.
December 15, 2016
Before: AMBRO, GREENAWAY, JR. and SCIRICA, Circuit Judges
(Opinion filed: January 27, 2017)
_________
OPINION*
_________

PER CURIAM
Petitioner Kenneth Burke seeks a writ of mandamus to compel the United States
District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to rule on his motion to vacate
sentence filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255. We will dismiss the petition as moot.

*

This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not
constitute binding precedent.

Case: 16-3647

Document: 003112523967

Page: 2

Date Filed: 01/27/2017

In late 2014, Burke filed a motion to vacate his sentence pursuant to 28 U.S.C.
§ 2255. In the months that followed, the matter was fully briefed and Burke
unsuccessfully attempted an interlocutory appeal. On September 20, 2016, Burke filed a
petition for writ of mandamus requesting that this Court direct the District Court to act on
his motion. A few days later, the District Court denied Burke’s § 2255 motion.
As the District Court has now disposed of the outstanding motion, Burke has
obtained the relief he sought and his mandamus petition is now moot. See In re Austrian
& German Holocaust Litig., 250 F.3d 156, 162-63 (2d Cir. 2001) (per curiam)
(mandamus petition requesting that court of appeals compel district court action generally
may be dismissed as moot upon district court’s entry of final order); see also Blanciak v.
Allegheny Ludlum Corp., 77 F.3d 690, 698-99 (3d Cir. 1996) (“If developments occur
during the course of adjudication that eliminate a plaintiff’s personal stake in the outcome
of a suit or prevent a court from being able to grant the requested relief, the case must be
dismissed as moot.”). We will therefore dismiss the petition.

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