Hector Pagan v. Chadwick Dotson

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• Decided: June 23, 2025
• Docket: 25-6096
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

USCA4 Appeal: 25-6096 Doc: 11 Filed: 06/23/2025 Pg: 1 of 3

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 25-6096

HECTOR LUIS PAGAN,

Plaintiff - Appellant,

v.

CHADWICK DOTSON, Director/Va. Dept. of Corr.,

Defendant - Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Alexandria. Michael Stefan Nachmanoff, District Judge. (1:25-cv-00076-MSN-WEF)

Submitted: June 17, 2025 Decided: June 23, 2025

Before GREGORY, QUATTLEBAUM, and BERNER, Circuit Judges.

Vacated and remanded by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Hector Luis Pagan, Appellant Pro Se.

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PER CURIAM:

Hector Luis Pagan seeks to appeal the district court’s order dismissing his 28 U.S.C.

§ 2254 petition as an unauthorized, successive § 2254 petition. The order is not appealable

unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of appealability. See 28 U.S.C.

§ 2253(c)(1)(A). A certificate of appealability will not issue absent “a substantial showing

of the denial of a constitutional right.” 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2). When, as here, the district

court denies relief on procedural grounds, the prisoner must demonstrate both that the

dispositive procedural ruling is debatable and that the petition states a debatable claim of

the denial of a constitutional right. Gonzalez v. Thaler, 565 U.S. 134, 140-41 (2012) (citing

Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 484 (2000)).

The district court dismissed Pagan’s petition after determining that he had filed a

previous § 2254 petition and had not obtained authorization to file a successive petition.

However, the authorization requirements apply only when the petitioner has filed a

previous § 2254 petition that was adjudicated on the merits. Farabee v. Clark, 967 F.3d

380, 389 (4th Cir. 2020); see Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 478, 485-86 (2000).

Pagan’s prior § 2254 petition was dismissed for failure to exhaust state remedies, which is

not an adjudication on the merits; thus, a later-filed petition is not second or successive.

See Slack, 529 U.S. at 478, 485-86. We therefore grant a certificate of appealability, vacate

the district court’s order, and remand for further proceedings.

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We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are

adequately presented in the materials before this court and argument would not aid the

decisional process.

VACATED AND REMANDED