UNITED STATES v. LOWE (2019)

Kurtis Keith Lowe, federal prisoner # 97408-071, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and was sentenced in 2015 to 60 months of imprisonment and three years of supervised release. He unsuccessfully pursued 28 U.S.C. § 2255 relief. Then, almost a year after the dismissal of his § 2255 motion, he filed a motion to compel his former counsel to produce discovery and case file materials. The district court denied that motion, and Lowe has now filed a motion for a certificate of appealability (COA) to appeal that denial.

Because Lowe is not seeking to appeal the final order in a § 2255 proceeding, his motion for a COA is denied as unnecessary. See 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(B). Furthermore, Lowe’s motion for discovery in a closed § 2255 proceeding was a “meaningless, unauthorized motion” with no statutory or legal basis. United States v. Early, 27 F.3d 140, 142 (5th Cir. 1994). Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s denial of motion on that basis. See id. To the extent that Lowe now attempts to raise any substantive claims regarding his conviction and sentence, we do not consider them. See United States v. Scruggs, 691 F.3d 660, 666 (5th Cir. 2012); United States v. Key, 205 F.3d 773, 774 (5th Cir. 2000).

COA DENIED AS UNNECESSARY; AFFIRMED.

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FOOTNOTE.  

PER CURIAM:* FN* Pursuant to 5th Cir. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5th Cir. R. 47.5.4.