DEXTER DEMETRIC ANDERSON v. LORIE DAVIS DIRECTOR TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTIONS DIVISION (2017)

ORDER:

Dexter Demetric Anderson, now federal prisoner # 07132-089, moves for a certificate of appealability (COA) to appeal the district court's dismissal as time barred of his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition challenging his Texas state conviction and 20-year sentence for delivery of 400 grams or more of cocaine. Anderson asserts that the district court erroneously concluded that his petition was untimely and that even had his petition been filed outside of the limitations period, he was entitled to equitable tolling.

A COA may be issued “only if the applicant has made a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right.” 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2). When, as here, the district court's denial of federal habeas relief is based on procedural grounds, “a COA should issue when the prisoner shows, at least, that jurists of reason would find it debatable whether the petition states a valid claim of the denial of a constitutional right and that jurists of reason would find it debatable whether the district court was correct in its procedural ruling.” Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 484 (2000). Anderson does not make the requisite showing. See id. Accordingly, his COA motion is DENIED.

PATRICK E. HIGGINBOTHAM UNITED STATES CIRCUIT JUDGE