F I L E D
United States Court of Appeals
Tenth Circuit
UNITED STATES CO URT O F APPEALS
December 20, 2006
TENTH CIRCUIT Elisabeth A. Shumaker
Clerk of Court
D A V ID JA CK SO N ,
Petitioner-A ppellant,
No. 06-1216
v. (District of Colorado)
(D.C. No. 06-CV-00264-ZLW )
G REY SON RO BIN SO N ,
Respondent-Appellee.
ORDER
Before M U RPH Y, SE YM OU R, and M cCO NNELL, Circuit Judges.
Proceeding pro se, David Jackson seeks a certificate of appealability
(“COA”) so he can appeal the district court’s dismissal of the habeas petition he
filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. See 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(A) (providing
that no appeal may be taken from a final order disposing of a § 2254 petition
unless the petitioner first obtains a COA).
Jackson initiated this § 2254 action on February 16, 2006, by filing a
document titled “Amended Writ of Habeus [sic] Corpus Ad Test” with the United
States District Court for the District of Colorado. The district court ordered
Jackson to cure deficiencies in the petition. The deficiencies were specifically
noted in the order and Jackson was warned that failure to comply with the order
within thirty days w ould result in the dismissal of the petition. Jackson failed to
cure the deficiencies within the thirty-day period but the court granted Jackson an
additional thirty-day period in a second order, dated M arch 27, 2006. Jackson
thereafter requested blank copies of the form on which he could file an amended
§ 2254 petition. The district court ordered the clerk of the court to mail Jackson
two copies of a form captioned, “Application for a W rit of Habeas Corpus
Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254.” Jackson, however, failed to cure the deficiencies
or otherwise comply with the orders and the district court dismissed his § 2254
petition without prejudice.
To be entitled to a COA, Jackson must make “a substantial showing of the
denial of a constitutional right.” 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2). Jackson can satisfy
“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 the issues presented are adequate to deserve encouragement to proceed
further.” M iller-El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322, 327 (2003). W hen a district court
dismisses a habeas petition on procedural grounds, a COA will only issue when
“jurists of reason would find it debatable w hether the district court was correct in
its procedural ruling.” Slack v. M cDaniel, 529 U.S. 474, 484-85 (2000) (holding
that w hen a district court dismisses a habeas petition on procedural grounds, a
petitioner is entitled to a COA only if he shows both that reasonable jurists w ould
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find it debatable w hether he had stated a valid constitutional claim and debatable
whether the district court’s procedural ruling was correct). Our review of the
record, including Jackson’s appellate brief and application for a COA,
demonstrates the district court’s dismissal of Jackson’s § 2254 petition is not
deserving of further proceedings or subject to a different resolution on appeal.
Accordingly, we deny Jackson’s request for a COA, deny his motion to proceed
in form a pauperis on appeal, and dismiss this appeal.
Entered for the Court
ELISABETH A. SHUM AKER, Clerk
By
Deputy Clerk
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