Kenneth Thomas v. Rick Thaler, Director

Case: 08-40829 Document: 00511098348 Page: 1 Date Filed: 05/03/2010 IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit FILED May 3, 2010 No. 08-40829 Summary Calendar Lyle W. Cayce Clerk KENNETH ALAN THOMAS Petitioner - Appellant v. RICK THALER, DIRECTOR, TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE, CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTIONS DIVISION Respondent - Appellee Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas USDC No. 4:08-CV-16 Before HIGGINBOTHAM, CLEMENT, and SOUTHWICK, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:* Kenneth Alan Thomas, Texas prisoner # 407931, seeks a certificate of appealability (COA) to appeal the district court’s dismissal as time barred, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d), of his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition challenging his conviction for aggravated assault and resulting eight-year sentence. A COA is granted on the issue of whether Thomas’s petition was barred by the statute of limitations in light of Womack v. Thaler, 591 F.3d 757 (5th Cir. * Pursuant to 5TH CIR . R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR . R. 47.5.4. Case: 08-40829 Document: 00511098348 Page: 2 Date Filed: 05/03/2010 No. 08-40829 2009), which was decided after the district court’s judgment in the instant case. See Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 484 (2000). We vacate the district court’s judgment, and we remand for further proceedings consistent with Womack. See Whitehead v. Johnson, 157 F.3d 384, 388 (5th Cir. 1998). We express no opinion on the ultimate disposition of Thomas’s Section 2254 petition. COA GRANTED; JUDGMENT VACATED; CASE REMANDED. 2