Gregory Wyatt v. Bernadette Mason, et al.

Summary

The United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania addressed Gregory Wyatt’s application to proceed in forma pauperis and his petition for habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. The court granted in forma pauperis status but dismissed the petition without prejudice for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction because it was an unauthorized second or successive petition. The court declined to issue a certificate of appealability and directed the Clerk to close the case.

Holdings

1. A § 2254 petition challenging the same conviction and sentence is second or successive when the petitioner previously filed a § 2254 petition that was adjudicated on the merits, including by dismissal as untimely under AEDPA's one-year statute of limitations.
2. A district court lacks subject-matter jurisdiction over a second or successive § 2254 petition filed without prior authorization from the appropriate court of appeals.
3. Transfer was not in the interest of justice because Wyatt did not allege facts suggesting that his claims satisfied the gatekeeping requirements for a second or successive petition.
4. A certificate of appealability should not issue because reasonable jurists would not debate the determination that the petition was an unauthorized second or successive petition subject to dismissal.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the present § 2254 petition was an unauthorized second or successive habeas petition requiring prior authorization from the Third Circuit.
2. Whether the district court had subject-matter jurisdiction to consider the petition absent authorization from the court of appeals.
3. Whether the petition should be transferred to the Third Circuit under 28 U.S.C. § 1631 in the interest of justice.
4. Whether a certificate of appealability should issue after dismissal on procedural grounds.

Disposition

dismissed