Summary
finding that allegations of civil rights violations, including racial discrimination, was not good cause for failing to file a timely notice of removal
Summary of this case from Harris v. StateOpinion
No. 06-30523, Summary Calendar.
August 9, 2007.
Kenneth R. Bradford, Scotlandville, LA, pro se.
Kathleen Elizabeth Petersen, Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney's Office, Baton Rouge, LA, for Defendant-Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana, USDC No. 3:06-CV-7.
Before WIENER, GARZA, and BENAVIDES, Circuit Judges.
Kenneth Bradford, a Georgia prisoner, appeals the district court's orders remanding his Louisiana state criminal prosecutions to Louisiana state court and denying reconsideration. The district court remanded the action after determining that Bradford had failed to satisfy the procedural requirements of 28 U.S.C. § 1446 by filing an untimely notice of removal. See § 1446(c)(1).
Section 1446(c)(1) provides that a notice of removal of a criminal case must "be filed not later than thirty days after the arraignment in the State court, or at any time before trial, whichever is earlier, except that for good cause shown the United States district court may enter an order granting the defendant . . . leave to file the notice at a later time." Bradford does not challenge the district court's determination that his notice of removal was not filed within 30 days of arraignment. Instead, Bradford argues that in the light of his allegations of civil rights violations, including racial discrimination, by the State Attorney General's Office, the district court erred in dismissing his notice of removal and remanding without conducting an evidentiary hearing. Because Bradford has wholly failed to demonstrate good cause for filing an untimely notice of removal, we find no error. See § 1446(c)(1).
The district court's decision is AFFIRMED; motion for a stay of state court proceedings DENIED.