(HC) Garcia v. Schuyler

Opinion

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