Lance Conway Wood v. Sharon D'Amico

Summary

The United States District Court for the District of Utah dismissed Lance Conway Wood’s third federal habeas petition challenging his Utah convictions. The court held that the petition was a second or successive application under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, that Wood had not obtained authorization from the Tenth Circuit, and that the court therefore lacked jurisdiction. The court declined to transfer the matter to the Tenth Circuit, denied a certificate of appealability, and closed the case.

Holdings

1. A district court lacks jurisdiction to consider a second or successive § 2254 petition filed without prior authorization from the appropriate court of appeals.
2. Claims presented in a previous federal habeas application must be dismissed in a subsequent application.
3. The district court may dismiss an unauthorized successive petition rather than transfer it to the court of appeals when transfer is not in the interest of justice.
4. Wood's remaining claims were untimely and did not qualify for equitable tolling because he failed to show newly unavailable evidence or that no reasonable juror would have convicted him.
5. An alleged violation of state law, without a federal constitutional or federal-law violation, is not cognizable in federal habeas review.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the district court had jurisdiction to consider Wood's third § 2254 petition when he had not obtained authorization from the Tenth Circuit to file a second or successive petition.
2. Whether claims previously presented in an earlier federal habeas petition had to be dismissed under 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b)(1).
3. Whether the remaining claims should be transferred to the Tenth Circuit under 28 U.S.C. § 1631 for authorization.
4. Whether the remaining claims were sufficiently meritorious or timely to make transfer in the interest of justice.
5. Whether Wood's claim based on an alleged violation of Utah law was cognizable in federal habeas proceedings.

Disposition

dismissed