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U.S. v. SHORTER, 4:12cr11-RH/GRJ (2015)

Court: District Court, N.D. Florida Number: infdco20150810a07 Visitors: 10
Filed: Aug. 06, 2015
Latest Update: Aug. 06, 2015
Summary: ORDER DENYING THE 2255 MOTION ROBERT L. HINKLE , District Judge . The defendant has moved under 28 U.S.C. 2255 for relief from his judgment of conviction. The motion is before the court on the magistrate judge's report and recommendation, ECF No. 83. No objections have been file. This order accepts the report and recommendation and denies the 2255 motion. The analysis in the report and recommendation fully supports the result. I would adopt the report and recommendation and deny the
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ORDER DENYING THE § 2255 MOTION

The defendant has moved under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 for relief from his judgment of conviction. The motion is before the court on the magistrate judge's report and recommendation, ECF No. 83. No objections have been file. This order accepts the report and recommendation and denies the § 2255 motion.

The analysis in the report and recommendation fully supports the result. I would adopt the report and recommendation and deny the motion even without regard to the following consideration: nothing the defendant has asserted in the § 2255 motion would have changed the result in this case. The defendant committed serious offenses, as he has admitted. He received a favorable sentence based on all the § 3553(a) factors. Nothing the defendant now says his attorney should have done had any chance of achieving a more favorable sentence.

A defendant may appeal the denial of a § 2255 motion only if the district court or court of appeals issues a certificate of appealability. Under 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2), a certificate of appealability may issue "only if the applicant has made a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right." Miller-El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322, 335-38 (2003); Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 483-84 (2000); Barefoot v. Estelle, 463 U.S. 880, 893 n.4 (1983); see also Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362, 402-13 (2000) (setting out the standards applicable to a § 2254 petition on the merits). As the Court said in Slack:

To obtain a COA under § 2253(c), a habeas prisoner must make a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right, a demonstration that, under Barefoot, includes showing that reasonable jurists could debate whether (or, for that matter, agree that) the petition should have been resolved in a different manner or that the issues presented were "adequate to deserve encouragement to proceed further."

529 U.S. at 483-84 (quoting Barefoot, 463 U.S. at 893 n.4). Further, in order to obtain a certificate of appealability when dismissal is based on procedural grounds, a petitioner must show, "at least, that jurists of reason would find it debatable whether the petition states a valid claim of the denial of a constitutional right and that jurists of reason would find it debatable whether the district court was correct in its procedural ruling." Id. at 484.

The defendant has not made the required showing. This order thus denies a certificate of appealability. Because the defendant has not obtained—and is not entitled to—a certificate of appealability, any appeal by the defendant will not be taken in good faith. I certify under Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 24(a) that any appeal will not be taken in good faith and that the defendant is not otherwise entitled to proceed in forma pauperis on appeal. Accordingly,

IT IS ORDERED:

1. The clerk must enter a judgment stating, "The defendant's motion for relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 is DENIED.

2. The defendant's application for a certificate of appealability is DENIED.

SO ORDERED.

Source:  Leagle

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