(HC) Garcia v. Schuyler

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 10 11 MIGUEL GARCIA JR., No. 1:25-cv-00251 JLT SAB (HC) 12 Petitioner, ORDER DECLINING TO ISSUE CERTIFICATE OF APPEALABILITY 13 v. 15 Respondent. 16 17 Petitioner is a state prisoner proceeding pro se whose petition for writ of habeas corpus, 18 brought pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, was dismissed on June 12, 2025. (Doc. 16.) Petitioner filed 19 a notice of appeal, and on July 3, 2025, the Ninth Circuit remanded the case to this Court for the 20 limited purpose of granting or denying a certificate of appealability. (Doc. 18.) 21 A petitioner seeking a writ of habeas corpus has no absolute entitlement to appeal a 22 district court’s denial of his petition, and an appeal is only allowed in certain circumstances. 23 Miller-El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322, 335-36 (2003); 28 U.S.C. § 2253. Where, as here, the Court 24 denies habeas relief on procedural grounds without reaching the underlying constitutional claims, 25 the Court should issue a certificate of appealability “if jurists of reason would find it debatable 26 whether the petition states a valid claim of the denial of a constitutional right and that jurists of 27 reason would find it debatable whether the district court was correct in its procedural ruling.” 28 Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 484 (2000). “Where a plain procedural bar is present and the 1 | district court is correct to invoke it to dispose of the case, a reasonable jurist could not conclude 2 | either that the district court erred in dismissing the petition or that the petitioner should be 3 | allowed to proceed further.” Jd. 4 In the petition, Petitioner challenges his 2005 Fresno County Superior Court conviction 5 | for first-degree murder. (Doc. 1.) Petitioner previously filed a federal habeas petition in this Court 6 | challenging the same conviction, and that petition was denied on the merits. See Order, Garcia v. 7 | Horel, No. 1:07-cv-01105-VRW (E.D. Cal. Nov. 9, 2009), Doc. 49.! Accordingly, the Court finds 8 | that reasonable jurists would not find the Court’s determination that the petition should be 9 | dismissed as successive debatable or wrong, or that Petitioner should be allowed to proceed 10 | further. 11 Based on the foregoing, the Court hereby DECLINES to issue a certificate of 12 || appealability. The Clerk of the Court is DIRECTED to serve a copy of this order on the Ninth 13 Circuit Court of Appeals. 14 16 | Dated: _ July 7, 2025 Charis [Tourn TED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 ' The Court may take judicial notice of its own records in other cases. United States v. Wilson, 631 F.2d 118, 119 (9th 28 | Cir. 1980).