United States Court of Appeals
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Fifth Circuit
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT F I L E D
_____________________
June 24, 2005
No. 04-70029
_____________________ Charles R. Fulbruge III
Clerk
JUSTIN WILEY DICKENS,
Petitioner - Appellant
v.
DOUG DRETKE, DIRECTOR, TEXAS
DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE,
INSTITUTIONAL DIVISION,
Respondent - Appellee
---------------------
Appeal from the United States District Court for the
Northern District of Texas
(2:00-CV-0110-J)
---------------------
Before WIENER, BENAVIDES, and STEWART, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
Petitioner-Appellant Justin Wiley Dickens seeks a
certificate of appealability (“COA”) on three issues that the
district court deemed unworthy of collateral review. Dickens
seeks a COA from this Court on three claims, all of which
challenge his death sentence. Dickens first argues that the
evidence at the punishment phase of trial was legally
insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he would
*
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that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent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.
commit criminal acts of violence in the future so as to
constitute a continuing threat to society. Dickens also argues
that his state trial, appeal, and habeas counsel were ineffective
because they failed to invoke the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights, an international treaty ratified by the
United States Senate which prohibits the execution of offenders
for crimes committed when the offender was under the age of 18.
In light of the United States Supreme Court’s recent
decision in Roper v. Simmons,1 Texas Governor Rick Perry has
commuted Dickens’s death sentence to life imprisonment. As
Dickens petition for a COA challenges only his death sentence,
and not his underlying conviction, his petition is now moot
because Governor Perry has granted him the relief that he
requested.
PETITION DISMISSED.
1
—— U.S. ——, 125 S. Ct. 1183 (2005).
2