Background
Russell Edward Murray filed a petition under twenty-eight U.S.C. section two thousand two hundred fifty-four in the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. The district court dismissed the petition as untimely and denied his motion for reconsideration. Murray sought to appeal these orders.
The court’s reasoning
The court noted that an order denying a section two thousand two hundred fifty-four petition is not appealable unless a certificate of appealability is issued. A certificate will not issue absent a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right. When the district court denies relief on procedural grounds, the prisoner must demonstrate that the dispositive procedural ruling is debatable and that the petition states a debatable claim of the denial of a constitutional right. The court independently reviewed the record and concluded that Murray had not made the requisite showing.
What it means going forward
The dismissal prevents further appellate review of the underlying habeas petition, leaving the district court’s dismissal as untimely in place.