JEROME B. SIMANDLE, District Judge.
By Order dated July 28, 2017, this Court denied Lamar Milbourne's amended petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 and denied a certificate of appealability. [Docket Item 19]. Petitioner has now moved for amendment of that order arguing the Court failed to address one of the grounds raised in the petition [Motion, Docket Item 20]. For the reasons stated herein, the motion shall be denied.
Petitioner was convicted of first-degree aggravated sexual assault, N.J. STAT. ANN. § 2C:14-2(a); first-degree kidnapping, N.J. STAT. ANN. § 2C:13-1(b); third-degree aggravated assault, N.J. STAT. ANN. § 2C:12-16; third-degree criminal restraint, N.J. STAT. ANN. § 2C:13-2(a); possession of a baseball bat for an unlawful purpose, N.J. STAT. ANN. § 2C:39-4(d); second-degree robbery N.J. STAT. ANN. § 2C:15-1(a); second-degree conspiracy to commit robbery, N.J. STAT. ANN. § 2C:15-1(a)(1); and disorderly persons simple assault, N.J. STAT. ANN. § 2C:12-1(a) for attacks against two individuals in 2002. After pursuing state court remedies, he filed a § 2254 petition on August 7, 2013 [Petition, Docket Item 1].
By Order dated August 15, 2013, this Court informed Petitioner of his rights under Mason v. Meyers, 208 F.3d 414 (3d Cir. 2000), and ordered him to advise the Court as to how he wished to proceed. [Mason Order, Docket Item 2]. Petitioner elected to submit an amended petition on September 16, 2013. [Amended Petition, Docket Item 6]. The Court addressed and denied all grounds in the Amended Petition on July 28, 2017. [Opinion Order, Docket Items 18 & 19.]. Petitioner thereafter filed the present motion to alter or amend the judgment arguing the Court failed to address one of the points allegedly raised in his petition, namely, an alleged ground that his statement to police should have been suppressed due to illegal arrest without a warrant.
In this district, a Rule 59(e) motion to alter or amend judgment is reviewed under the same standard as a motion for reconsideration under L. Civ. R. 7.1(i).
Petitioner argues the Court overlooked a ground for relief, specifically that his statement to police should have been suppressed due to an illegal arrest as there was no arrest warrant nor consent to enter his home. Petitioner's motion is denied because the Court addressed all of the points he raised in his Amended Petition. The alleged overlooked ground was not included in the Petition or the Amended Petition.
As is evident from the electronic docket heading across the top of Petitioner's current exhibit [Docket Item 20], the document attached to Petitioner's motion consists of excerpts of his original petition [Docket Item 1]. The portion of the original petition now cited as proof that he presented his illegal arrest claim to the Court, Exh. 6, is merely the section of the original petition setting forth the grounds that were raised in the state courts. Compare Petition [Docket Item 1] at 3, with Exh. 6 of current motion [Docket Item 20].
Even if Petitioner had raised his illegal arrest claim in the original petition, which he did not, it became irrelevant once Petitioner elected to file an Amended Petition under Mason.
In summary, the Court addressed all of the grounds that were properly presented in Petitioner's Amended Petition. His motion to alter or amend the judgment is therefore denied.
Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c), a petitioner may not appeal from a final order in a habeas proceeding where that petitioner's detention arises out of his state court conviction unless he has "made a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right." "A petitioner satisfies this standard by demonstrating that jurists of reason could disagree with the district court's resolution of his constitutional claims or that jurists could conclude that the issues presented here are adequate to deserve encouragement to proceed further." Miller-El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322, 327 (2003).
The Court denied a certificate of appealability in its prior opinion and order, and there is no reason to reconsider that decision as nothing provided by Petitioner would make jurists of reason disagree with the Court's decision.
For the reasons stated above, the motion is denied. A certificate of appealability shall not issue.
An accompanying Order will be entered.