The following excerpt is from U.S. v. Zwerling, 107 F.3d 5 (2nd Cir. 1997):
28 U.S.C. 2255 provides that a district court may set aside a sentence that was, inter alia, "not authorized by law or otherwise open to collateral attack, or that [denies or infringes the] constitutional rights of the prisoner so as to render the judgment subject to collateral attack." We have held that a district court may set aside a sentence under this section "for a constitutional error, a lack of jurisdiction in the sentencing court, or an error of law or fact that constitutes a fundamental defect which inherently results in a complete miscarriage of justice." United States v. Bokun, 73 F.3d 8, 12 (2d Cir.1995).
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