Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca10-15-01219/USCOURTS-ca10-15-01219-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Charles Jeffrey McMillian
Petitioner

Document Text:

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT

_________________________________

In re:

CHARLES JEFFREY MCMILLIAN, 

 Movant.

No. 15-1219

(D.C. No. 1:05-CV-00985-WDM-MJW)

(D. Colo.)

_________________________________

ORDER

_________________________________

Before GORSUCH, McHUGH, and MORITZ, Circuit Judges.

_________________________________

Charles Jeffrey McMillian, a Colorado state prisoner appearing pro se, has filed a 

motion for authorization to file a second or successive habeas petition under 28 U.S.C. 

§ 2254. His proposed claim is that his statement admitting guilt was obtained while he 

was under the influence of the prescribed drug Halcion. Mot. for Auth. at 8c. The 

motion for authorization is denied because (1) Mr. McMillian has presented the same 

claim in a prior application under § 2254 alleging that he was under the influence of the 

prescribed drug Halcion when he admitted guilt, and (2) this court is statutorily barred 

under 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b)(1) from authorizing a successive application for a claim that 

has been presented in a prior § 2254 application. 

A. BACKGROUND and DECISION

We have previously reviewed the history of Mr. McMillian’s criminal proceedings 

and his history of filing § 2254 applications when we denied a prior motion for 

authorization to file a second or successive § 2254 application to assert claims “relat[ing] 

FILED

United States Court of Appeals

Tenth Circuit

July 9, 2015

Elisabeth A. Shumaker

Clerk of Court

Appellate Case: 15-1219 Document: 01019457185 Date Filed: 07/09/2015 Page: 1 
2

to his taking of the prescription drug Halcion.” See In re McMillian, No. 10-1098, slip 

op. at 3-4 (10th Cir. Apr. 12, 2010) (unpublished). He pleaded guilty in 1994 to 

conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, retaliation against a witness, second-degree 

murder, and aggravated motor vehicle theft. Id. at 1. He moved to withdraw his guilty 

plea before sentencing, but the motion was denied, and he was sentenced to sixty-four 

years’ imprisonment. Id. His conviction was affirmed on direct appeal. 

In 2005, Mr. McMillian asserted in a § 2254 application that “his guilty plea was 

not free and voluntary as he was under the influence of Halcion.” Id. at 2-3. The district 

court denied relief, and we denied Mr. McMillian a certificate of appealability and 

dismissed his appeal. McMillian v. Carochi, 301 F. App’x 801 (10th Cir. 2008). 

Because Mr. McMillian now seeks to assert the same claim that he brought in his 

§ 2254 application in 2005, his motion for authorization is denied. This denial of 

authorization “shall not be appealable and shall not be the subject of a petition for 

rehearing or for a writ of certiorari.” Id. § 2244(b)(3)(E).

Entered for the Court

ELISABETH A. SHUMAKER, Clerk

Appellate Case: 15-1219 Document: 01019457185 Date Filed: 07/09/2015 Page: 2