FILED
United States Court of Appeals
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tenth Circuit
FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT March 9, 2021
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Christopher M. Wolpert
Clerk of Court
JASON BROOKS,
Petitioner - Appellant,
v. No. 20-1326
(D.C. No. 1:14-CV-02276-SKC)
LOU ARCHULETA, Warden; THE (D. Colo.)
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE
OF COLORADO,
Respondents - Appellees.
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ORDER DENYING CERTIFICATE OF APPEALABILITY
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Before TYMKOVICH, Chief Judge, HOLMES, and McHUGH, Circuit Judges.
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Jason Brooks is a Colorado prisoner.1 He seeks a certificate of appealability
(COA) to appeal the district court’s rulings on two motions in this habeas corpus case.
The first motion purported to request relief under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure
60(b)(6), and the second motion asked the district court to reconsider its ruling on the
first motion. We deny Mr. Brooks a COA and dismiss this matter.
This order is not binding precedent except under the doctrines of law of the case,
res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited, however, for its persuasive value
consistent with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th Cir. R. 32.1.
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Mr. Brooks represents himself. We construe his filings liberally without going
so far as to assume the role of his advocate. See Hall v. Bellmon, 935 F.2d 1106, 1110
(10th Cir. 1991).
I. Background
In 2010, Mr. Brooks pleaded guilty in a Colorado court to securities crimes. He
received a thirty-two-year prison sentence. In 2014, he filed his first habeas corpus
petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. The petition failed. In the years since, Mr. Brooks has
filed three unsuccessful motions in this court seeking authorization to file a second or
successive § 2254 petition. And in 2017, he sought relief in the district court, purportedly
under Rule 60(b)(6), but the district court construed the filing as a second or successive
§ 2254 petition.
In 2020, Mr. Brooks filed the two motions that concern us here. In the first
motion, styled a Rule 60(b)(6) motion, Mr. Brooks attacked his Colorado convictions on
three theories, arguing that he did not sell “securities” as the term is used in the Colorado
Securities Act, that Colorado lacked jurisdiction to prosecute him, and that enforcing the
Colorado Securities Act violates due process. The district court construed the motion as
an unauthorized second or successive § 2254 petition and concluded that it lacked
jurisdiction to consider the merits of the claims. Mr. Brooks moved for reconsideration,
and the district court reiterated its jurisdictional ruling.
II. Discussion
The district court’s ruling that it lacked jurisdiction over the merits of
Mr. Brooks’s claims was a procedural ruling, hinging on its decision that the claims
should be treated as second or successive § 2254 claims even though Mr. Brooks labelled
them as Rule 60(b)(6) claims. To obtain a COA, then, Mr. Brooks must show “that
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jurists of reason would find it debatable whether the district court was correct in its
procedural ruling.” Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 478 (2000).
Mr. Brooks cannot make that showing. A district court lacks jurisdiction to
address the merits of a second or successive § 2254 claim unless the appropriate court of
appeals has authorized the claim to be filed. In re Cline, 531 F.3d 1249, 1251 (10th Cir.
2008). A Rule 60(b)(6) motion in a habeas corpus case will be treated as a second or
successive § 2254 petition if it asserts, or reasserts, “claims of error in the movant’s state
conviction.” Gonzalez v. Crosby, 545 U.S. 524, 538 (2005). Because the claims in
Mr. Brooks’s purported Rule 60(b)(6) motion attack his Colorado convictions, no
reasonable jurist could debate the district court’s decision to treat those claims as
unauthorized second or successive § 2254 claims.
Mr. Brooks does not dispute that his claims target his Colorado convictions.
Instead, he argues that his claims nevertheless fit under Rule 60(b)(6) because they arise
from extraordinary circumstances. This argument addresses the wrong question. To be
sure, relief under Rule 60(b)(6) is available only under extraordinary circumstances.
Gonzalez, 545 U.S. at 536. But the question before us is not whether Mr. Brooks
presented a meritorious motion under Rule 60(b)(6); the question is whether he presented
a motion under Rule 60(b)(6) at all. He did not. He presented § 2254 claims alleging
error in his Colorado convictions. The district court’s ruling that it lacked jurisdiction to
address the merits of those claims is not debatable. See Cline, 531 F.3d at 1251.
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III. Conclusion
We grant Mr. Brooks’s motion to proceed without prepaying fees, deny his
application for a COA, and dismiss this matter.
Entered for the Court
CHRISTOPHER M. WOLPERT, Clerk
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