Richard Webb v. Leanna Lundy

Summary

The United States District Court for the Central District of California dismissed Richard Webb’s second or successive habeas corpus petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. The court concluded that Webb had not obtained authorization from the Ninth Circuit to file the successive petition and therefore dismissed it without prejudice for lack of jurisdiction.

Holdings

1. A federal habeas petition challenging custody imposed by the same state-court judgment previously challenged in an earlier § 2254 proceeding is a second or successive petition for purposes of 28 U.S.C. § 2244.
2. The district court lacks jurisdiction to consider a second or successive § 2254 petition unless the petitioner first obtains authorization from the court of appeals.
3. The petition should be dismissed without prejudice because the district court could not consider it absent the required Ninth Circuit authorization.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the 2025 § 2254 petition was a second or successive habeas petition because it challenged custody imposed by the same state-court judgment previously challenged in Webb's earlier federal habeas action.
2. Whether the district court had jurisdiction to consider the petition absent prior authorization from the Ninth Circuit under 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b)(3)(A).

Disposition

dismissed