History
  • No items yet
midpage
Loften v. Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas—Austin
676 F. App'x 360
| 5th Cir. | 2017
|
Check Treatment
|
Docket
Case Information

*1 Before JOLLY, DAVIS, and SOUTHWICK, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM: [*]

Joseph Eric Loften, Texas prisoner # 616132, seeks a certificate of appealability (COA) to challenge the district court’s dismissal for lack of jurisdiction of his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 habeas petition based on it being a successive application barred by earlier sanction orders in other proceedings. Loften asserts that he is challenging for the first time his November 2013 conviction for possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and his 99-year term of imprisonment.

*2 Case: 15-51036 Document: 00513877260 Page: 2 Date Filed: 02/15/2017

No. 15-51036

Reasonable jurists would debate whether the district court erred in dismissing Loften’s habeas petition as successive and subject to the prior sanctions imposed against Loften in earlier proceedings challenging a different conviction or a finding of guilt in a disciplinary proceeding. Additionally, “the district court pleadings, the record, and the COA application demonstrate that reasonable jurists could debate whether the petitioner has made a valid claim of a constitutional deprivation.” Houser v. Dretke , 395 F.3d 560, 562 (5th Cir. 2004).

Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that Loften’s motion for a COA is GRANTED; his motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis is GRANTED; the district court’s judgment dismissing his § 2254 habeas petition as successive and barred by sanctions is VACATED; and the matter is REMANDED for further proceedings. See Whitehead v. Johnson, 157 F.3d 384, 387-88 (5th Cir. 1998). Loften’s motion for appointment of counsel is DENIED. See Ulmer v. Chancellor , 691 F.2d 209, 212-13 (5th Cir. 1982). His motion for an evidentiary hearing and for the issuance of a subpoena duces tecum and subpoenas for out-of-state witnesses is DENIED without prejudice to his filing the motion in the district court.

2

[*] Pursuant to 5 TH C IR . R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5 TH C IR . R. 47.5.4.

Case Details

Case Name: Loften v. Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas—Austin
Court Name: Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Date Published: Feb 15, 2017
Citation: 676 F. App'x 360
Docket Number: 15-51036
Court Abbreviation: 5th Cir.
AI-generated responses must be verified and are not legal advice.
Your Notebook is empty. To add cases, bookmark them from your search, or select Add Cases to extract citations from a PDF or a block of text.