Source: http://ca10.washburnlaw.edu/cases/2000/11/00-6188.htm
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 18:03:46+00:00

Document:
We deny Mr. Stoltz's motion for a certificate of appealability, deny his motion to proceed in forma pauperis, and dismiss his appeal.
The crux of Mr. Stoltz's § 2254 petition centered on the State of Oklahoma's revocation of his suspended sentence. In short, Mr. Stoltz's claimed: 1) his initial suspended sentence and later revocation thereof were unlawful under the Oklahoma and United States Constitutions; 2) the state court lacked jurisdiction under Oklahoma law to revoke his suspended sentence; and 3) the state improperly delayed his revocation hearing, violating Oklahoma law and the United States Constitution. Later, in a reply brief responding to the state's pleadings, Mr. Stoltz requested an evidentiary hearing and claimed the state trial court committed a double jeopardy violation by resentencing him after revocation of his suspended sentence.
The federal district court assigned the matter to a magistrate judge who issued a cogent and thorough Report and Recommendation, carefully addressing each of Mr. Stoltz's claims. In brief, the magistrate judge recommended: 1) denying Mr. Stoltz's petition with respect to his first two claims, explaining they raised issues of state law; dismissing his third claim as conclusory, unsupported and lacking a showing of prejudice to Mr. Stoltz; denying Mr. Stoltz's double jeopardy claim as untimely and lacking merit; and denying Mr. Stoltz's request for an evidentiary hearing because he failed to carry the requisite burden to support his request. Following a review of Mr. Stoltz's objections to the magistrate judge's recommendations, the district court adopted the magistrate judge's Report and Recommendation in its entirety, and issued an Order denying his petition.
Specifically, Mr. Stoltz fails to demonstrate "reasonable jurists would find the district court's assessment of the constitutional claims debatable or wrong." Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, ___, 120 S. Ct. 1595, 1604 (2000). Because we agree with the district court and magistrate judge's well-reasoned assessment of the issues presented on appeal, we decline to duplicate the same analysis here.
Accordingly, for substantially the same reasons set forth in the district court's July 28, 2000 and May 24, 2000 Orders, and the magistrate judge's April 27, 2000 Report and Recommendation, we deny Mr. Stoltz's motion for a certificate of appealability, deny his motion to proceed in forma pauperis, and DISMISS his appeal.
1. Mr. Stoltz filed two appeals concerning his petition. First, he filed a notice of appeal concerning the district court's Order denying his petition. He then filed another notice of appeal following the district court's Order denying his motion for a certificate of appealability. On this court's own motion, we consolidated these two appeals and adopted Mr. Stoltz's opening brief for both appeals.
2. We note the magistrate judge applied relevant, cogent Supreme Court, Tenth Circuit, Oklahoma and other persuasive authority in determining revocation of Mr. Stoltz's suspended sentence implicated state law and did not rise to a federal issue cognizable in a federal habeas proceeding. Moreover, we have long held revocation of a suspended sentence does not constitute double jeopardy. See, e.g., Gillespie v. Hunter, 159 F.2d 410, 412 (10th Cir. 1947) (determining statute, allowing court to revoke a suspended sentence and impose a sentence which might originally have been imposed, did not trigger double jeopardy violation).
3. See also State v. Hejduk, 232 P.2d 664, 667 (Okla. Crim. App. 1951) (holding that when the court issues a suspended sentence, the initial sentence continues to stands, and the "execution" of the sentence is merely deferred and can be revoked any time during the period of the sentence); cf. Demry v. State, 986 P.2d 1145, 1147 (Okla. Crim. App. 1999).
4. While a certificate of appealability is not necessary for a federal prisoner to proceed under § 2241, a state prisoner, like Mr. Stoltz, must obtain a certificate of appealability to appeal the denial of a habeas petition whether such petition was filed pursuant to § 2254 or § 2241. See Montez, 208 F.3d at 866-67.

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