(a) Nature of application for relief. If the person is presently in custody pursuant to the judgment in question, or if not presently in custody may be subject to such custody in the future pursuant to such judgment, the application for relief shall be in the form of a motion to vacate, set aside, or correct the sentence.(b) Form of Motion. The motion shall specify all the grounds for relief which are available to the movant and of which he has or, by the exercise of reasonable diligence, should have knowledge and shall set forth in summary form the facts supporting each of the grounds thus specified. It shall also state the relief requested. The motion shall be typewritten or legibly handwritten and shall be signed under penalty of perjury by the petitioner. Motions filed by the movant pro se must be filed on standard forms to be supplied by the clerk upon request without cost. Counsel filing a motion under this rule need not use a standard form, but any such motion shall contain essentially the same information set forth on the standard form.(c) Motions to be directed to one judgment only. A motion shall be limited to the assertion of a claim for relief against one judgment only. If a movant desires to attack the validity of other judgments under which he or she is in custody or may be subject to future custody, as the case may be, he or she shall do so by separate motions.COMMENT
Rule 2(b) requires a movant, whether or not represented by counsel, to specify all the grounds for relief of which the movant has knowledge, or by the exercise of reasonable diligence should have knowledge, in one motion. This provision will encourage movants to raise all claims in one proceeding, rather than in a piecemeal fashion, thereby ensuring judicial economy and facilitating the expeditious handling of motions made under D.C. Code § 23-110. This requirement extends to appellate counsel under Shepard v. United States, 533 A.2d 1278 (D.C. 1987), as well as counsel appointed by the trial court.