AUTRY LEE JONES v. LORIE DAVIS DIRECTOR TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTIONS DIVISION (2017)

Autry Lee Jones, former Texas prisoner # 325804 and former federal prisoner # 52873-080, moves for a certificate of appealability (COA) to appeal the dismissal of his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 application challenging his 1981 Texas habitual offender sentence for possession of a controlled substance. He argues that the district court erred by dismissing as time barred his claim that he is “actually innocent” of the habitual offender enhancement.

We must examine the basis of our jurisdiction sua sponte if necessary. Mosley v. Cozby, 813 F.2d 659, 660 (5th Cir. 1987). Because Jones has previously filed at least one unsuccessful § 2254 challenge to the instant conviction and sentence, the district court should have dismissed the instant § 2254 application as an unauthorized successive, and this court lacks jurisdiction over the instant appeal. United States v. Key, 205 F.3d 773, 774-75 (5th Cir. 2000); 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b)(3)(A). Accordingly, we DISMISS this appeal for lack of jurisdiction and DENY AS MOOT Jones's motion for a COA.

PER CURIAM:*