Background
In 2012, Paul Anthony Rios was convicted in Colorado state court of aggravated robbery, felony menacing, and misdemeanor theft, and sentenced to sixty-four years in prison. In 2025, Rios filed a federal habeas petition under Section 2254 of Title 28 of the United States Code, challenging his habitual offender status and seeking appointed counsel. A United States Magistrate Judge concluded the petition was time-barred under the one-year limitations period and recommended dismissal. The district court adopted this recommendation, dismissed the petition with prejudice, and denied a certificate of appealability.
The court’s reasoning
The court applied the standard for granting a certificate of appealability, which requires the petitioner to show that reasonable jurists would find it debatable whether the district court correctly ruled on the denial of a constitutional right or the procedural ruling. The court noted that the petitioner’s application did not address the timeliness of his petition or attempt to meet the burden of showing specific facts establishing extraordinary circumstances for equitable tolling. Because the petitioner failed to demonstrate that reasonable jurists would debate the district court’s procedural ruling that his petition was time-barred, the motion for a certificate of appealability was denied.
What it means going forward
The dismissal prevents the petitioner from appealing the district court’s decision to dismiss his habeas petition as untimely. The court also denied the petitioner’s motion for the appointment of counsel as moot.