Source: http://ca10.washburnlaw.edu/cases/2000/12/00-3134.htm
Timestamp: 2019-04-23 00:06:47+00:00

Document:
Petitioner's claims were not resolved prior to his release from federal prison and subsequent transfer to a jail in Wichita, Kansas, pursuant to the Kansas detainer. See Smith v. Kansas, No. 98-837-GPM, slip op. at 1 (S.D. Ill. April 26, 1999) (order transferring the case to the United States District Court for the District of Kansas). Petitioner's request to have the case transferred to a federal court in Kansas was granted on April 26, 1999. See id.
The district court denied Petitioner's §2241 Petition on March 22, 2000, holding both that Petitioner's request to enjoin execution of the detainer was moot and that, in regard to Petitioner's amended claim challenging his present incarceration in Kansas, Petitioner had not exhausted his state court remedies as required by 28 U.S.C. §2254(b). See Smith v. Kansas, No. 99-3160-RDR, slip op. at 1-2 (D. Kan. March 22, 2000). Petitioner filed a Notice of Appeal on May 1, 2000, 12 days after the expiration of the 30-day filing period mandated by Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(a)(1)(A). The district court found that Petitioner's late filing was excused for good cause. Specifically, it found that the delayed delivery of his legal mail by correctional officers resulted in his not receiving the court's previous order until April 29, 2000. See Smith v. Kansas, No. 99-3160-RDR, slip op. at 1 (D. Kan. May 12, 2000). Petitioner's Motion to Proceed in Forma Pauperis was granted by the district court on June 23, 2000. See Smith v. Kansas, No. 99-3160-RDR, slip op. at 1 (D. Kan. June 23, 2000).
For substantially the same reasons as the district court, we find that Petitioner's late filing of his Notice of Appeal is excused for good cause.
Because the Petition was filed after April 24, 1996, the effective date of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act ("AEDPA"), AEDPA's provisions apply to this case. See, e.g., Rogers v. Gibson, 173 F.3d 1278 (10th Cir. 1999) (citing Lindh v. Murphy, 521 U.S. 320 (1997)). Under the provisions of AEDPA, a federal prisoner appealing a district court's denial of habeas relief under 28 U.S.C. §2241 ordinarily need not be granted a certificate of appealability ("COA"). See McIntosh v. United States Parole Comm'n, 115 F.3d 809, 810 n.1 (10th Cir. 1997). The district court thus held in this case that no COA was required. See Smith v. Kansas, No. 99-3160-RDR, slip op. at 2 (D. Kan. June 23, 2000).
A court may issue a COA "only if the applicant has made a substantial showing of a denial of a constitutional right." See 28 U.S.C. §2253(c)(3). Petitioner has not made such a showing.
Initially, we note that the circuit courts of appeal are split on the question whether alleged violations of the Agreement are cognizable under 28 U.S.C. §2254. See Ronald I. Mirvis, Annotation, Availability of Post-Conviction Relief Under 28 U.S.C. §2254 Based on Alleged Governmental Violation of Interstate Agreement on Detainers Act, 63 A.L.R. Fed. 155 §§3-5 (1983) (2000 Supp.). This court has not yet decided that issue. See id. Even if we were to find, however, that an alleged violation of the Agreement was cognizable under either §2241 or §2254, Petitioner has not alleged facts sufficient to support a "substantial showing of a denial of a constitutional right" as required by 28 U.S.C. §2253(c)(3). In particular, Petitioner has not argued that he ever "caused to be delivered to the prosecuting officer and the appropriate court of the prosecuting officer's jurisdiction written notice of the place of his imprisonment and his request for a final disposition to be made in the indictment, information, or complaint" as required by Article III of the Agreement. Without the delivery of such notice, the 180-day period in which a prisoner must be tried under the Agreement, and which Petitioner contends was violated in his case, does not begin to run. See Grant v. Hogan, 505 F.2d 1220, 1224 (3d Cir. 1974) (holding that a federal prisoner's habeas corpus petition alleging violation of the 180-day provision in the Agreement must be denied because "[h]e neither requested a speedy trial nor sought relief from a higher state court, and it is clear that a prisoner must do at least both before seeking federal habeas corpus relief"); cf. Kane v. Virginia, 419 F.2d 1369, 1373 (4th Cir. 1970) (stating that a prisoner seeking federal habeas corpus relief for an alleged violation of his right to a speedy trial must show: "(1) that [he] demanded a speedy trial, (2) that the state nevertheless failed to make a diligent effort to obtain him for trial, and (3) that he has exhausted his state remedies as required by 28 U.S.C. § 2254 by seeking dismissal of the charges against him because of unconstitutional delay").
We find that Petitioner has not made a "substantial showing of a denial of a constitutional right" because he has failed both to exhaust his remedies under the Agreement and to exhaust his remedies in the state courts of Kansas. See 28 U.S.C. §2254(b). We therefore decline to issue a certificate of appealability in this case and the appeal is DISMISSED.
2. Petitioner also asserted that the false statements resulted in a violation of 18 U.S.C. §1341 (mail fraud statute) (see Amended Complaint at 13), and that they created a false expectation of release that caused him mental anguish (see Motion for a Mental Evaluation (October 13, 1999)).
Whenever a person has entered upon a term of imprisonment in a penal or correctional institution of a party State, and whenever during the continuance of the term of imprisonment there is pending in any other party State any untried indictment, information, or complaint on the basis of which a detainer has been lodged against the prisoner, he shall be brought to trial within one hundred and eighty days after he shall have caused to be delivered to the prosecuting officer and the appropriate court of the prosecuting officer's jurisdiction written notice of the place of his imprisonment and his request for a final disposition to be made in the indictment, information, or complaint . . . .
See 18 U.S.C.A. App. 2, art. III. Petitioner has not alleged that he ever "caused to be delivered" the notice and "request for a final disposition" required by Article III of the Agreement.
4. The Petition, as amended by Petitioner, seeks to challenge not the execution of his sentence but the authority of the State of Kansas to try him on the charges for which he is currently incarcerated. Thus, despite the initial classification of the Petition by the district court, it appears Petitioner is pursuing a claim more appropriately brought under 28 U.S.C. §2254 than under 28 U.S.C. §2241. Under the provisions of AEDPA, a state prisoner appealing a district court's denial of habeas relief under §2254 must always obtain a COA before we may consider the merits of his claim. See 28 U.S.C. §2253(c)(1)(A), (B).

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