Opinion
Civil Action No. 3:12CV608
09-25-2012
COREY E. JOHNSON, Petitioner, v. M. VARGO, Respondent.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Corey E. Johnson, a Virginia inmate proceeding pro se, submitted this 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition. Johnson challenges his convictions in the Circuit Court for the City of Richmond. The Court previously dismissed another 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition by Johnson challenging these convictions. See Johnson v. Kelly, No. 3:07CV731, 2008 WL 3992638, *2 (E.D. Va. Aug. 28, 2008).
The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 restricted the jurisdiction of the district courts to hear second or successive applications for federal habeas corpus relief by prisoners attacking the validity of their convictions and sentences by establishing a "gatekeeping mechanism." Felker v. Turpin, 518 U.S. 651, 657 (1996) (internal quotation marks omitted). Specifically, "[b]efore a second or successive application permitted by this section is filed in the district court, the applicant shall move in the appropriate court of appeals for an order authorizing the district court to consider the application." 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b)(3)(A). The Court has not received authorization from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to file the present § 2254 Petition. Therefore, the action will be DISMISSED for want of jurisdiction. Johnson's motion for appointment of counsel (Docket No. 1) will be DENIED.
An appeal may not be taken from the final order in a § 2254 proceeding unless a judge issues a certificate of appealability ("COA"). 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(A). A COA will not issue unless a prisoner makes "a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right." 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2). This requirement is satisfied only when "reasonable jurists could debate whether (or, for that matter, agree that) the petition should have been resolved in a different manner or that the issues presented were 'adequate to deserve encouragement to proceed further.'" Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 484 (2000) (quoting Barefoot v. Estelle, 463 U.S. 880, 893 n.4 (1983)). Because Johnson fails to satisfy this standard, a certificate of appealability will be denied.
An appropriate Final Order shall issue.
______________________
Henry E. Hudson
United States District Judge
Date: September 25, 2012
Richmond, Virginia