UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS 

FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT 

_________________________________ 

MICAH JAMES BLACKFEATHER, 

 Petitioner - Appellant, 

v. 

BOULDER COUNTY COMBINE 

COURTS; ERIKA BAASTEN, D.A.; THE 

STATE OF COLORADO, 

 Respondents - Appellees. 

No. 14-1395 

(D.C. No. 1:14-CV-02211-LTB) 

(D. Colo.) 

_________________________________ 

ORDER DENYING CERTIFICATE OF APPEALABILITY*

_________________________________ 

Before GORSUCH, McKAY, and BACHARACH, Circuit Judges. 

_________________________________ 

After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined 

unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist in the determination of 

this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is therefore 

ordered submitted without oral argument. 

Petitioner Micah Blackfeather, a pro se detainee presently confined in the 

Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo, Colorado, pending state criminal 

proceedings, seeks a certificate of appealablility to challenge the district court’s 

dismissal of his habeas petition. Petitioner challenged his confinement by filing a 

 *

 This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines 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. 

FILED 

United States Court of Appeals

Tenth Circuit 

July 9, 2015

Elisabeth A. Shumaker 

Clerk of Court

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2 

pro se “motion/petition to be released from custody” on August 7, 2014. In his 

motion, Petitioner set out numerous reasons why his confinement was unlawful, 

including that he was confined to a mental institution based on fraudulent police 

reports and tampered evidence. 

The magistrate judge noted several deficiencies with Petitioner’s filing and 

ordered him to cure the designated deficiencies within thirty days, advising him that 

otherwise the action would be dismissed without further notice. Specifically, the 

magistrate judge ordered Petitioner to use court-approved forms to file an 

Application for a Writ of Habeas Corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241 and to either 

pay the filing fee for a habeas corpus action or file a properly supported Prisoner’s 

Motion and Affidavit for Leave to Proceed Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915. Petitioner 

failed to respond to this order, and the district court dismissed the action without 

prejudice. Petitioner then filed a timely appeal. 

Petitioner makes no attempt to excuse his failure to comply with the magistrate 

judge’s order to cure the deficiencies or explain why it was impossible to do so. 

After reviewing the record on appeal, we conclude that reasonable jurists would not 

debate whether the district court’s dismissal of Petitioner’s motion was correct. 

Accordingly, we DENY Petitioner’s request for a certificate of appealability 

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and DISMISS the appeal. We GRANT Appellant’s motion to proceed in forma 

pauperis on appeal. 

Entered for the Court 

Monroe G. McKay 

Circuit Judge 

Appellate Case: 14-1395 Document: 01019456686 Date Filed: 07/09/2015 Page: 3