Source: http://sc.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.20191007_0002897.DSC.htm/qx
Timestamp: 2020-02-27 02:46:47
Document Index: 174822788

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 2254', '§ 1915', '§ 636', '§ 2254', '§ 2254', '§ 2254', '§ 17', '§ 2254', '§ 2254', '§ 2255', '§ 2244', '§ 2244', '§ 2244', '§ 2254', '§ 2244']

FindACase™ | McKanic v. Lewis
McKanic v. Lewis
Elson McKanic, Petitioner,
Warden Lewis, Respondent.
The petitioner, Elson McKanic, a self-represented state prisoner, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Petitioner files this action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A. This Petition is before the court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b) and Local Civil Rule 73.02(B)(2)(c) (D.S.C.). Having reviewed the Petition in accordance with applicable law, the court concludes that it should be summarily dismissed without prejudice and without requiring the respondent to file a return because it is impermissibly successive.
Petitioner indicates he was convicted in the Union County Court of General Sessions of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole on September 24, 1991. (Pet., ECF No. 1 at 1.) After exhausting his state court remedies to collaterally review his conviction, Petitioner filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 in this court in 2004. McKanic v. Bazzle, C/A No. 9:04-cv-1835-HMH. The court dismissed the 2004 petition on summary judgment, finding that the petition was not timely filed. Subsequently, Petitioner filed three more § 2254 petitions that were dismissed as successive. McKanic v. Ozmint, C/A No. 9:06-cv-1598-HMH; McKanic v. Ozmint, C/A No. 9:07- cv-800-HMH; McKanic v. Lewis, C/A No. 0:19-2680-HMH. Petitioner now seeks another petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, claiming that because the prosecutor failed to provide him with notice that the State would seek life without parole pursuant to S.C. Code § 17-25-45(H), his sentence exceeds the statutory maximum of twenty-five years' imprisonment.
The instant case should be summarily dismissed as a successive § 2254 petition. “[A]n individual may not file a second or successive § 2254 petition for a writ of habeas corpus or § 2255 motion to vacate sentence without first receiving permission to do so from the appropriate circuit court of appeals.” In re Vial, 115 F.3d 1192, 1194 (4th Cir. 1997); see also 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b). The issue of successiveness of a habeas petition may be raised by the court sua sponte. See Rodriguez v. Johnson, 104 F.3d 694, 697 n.1 (5th Cir. 1997); Davis v. McFadden, C/A No. 0:14-2662-RMG, 2014 WL 5305931, at *4 (D.S.C. Oct. 15, 2014) (adopting and incorporating Report and Recommendation). A petition is only second or successive if the original petition was adjudicated on the merits. See 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b). A finding that the petition is untimely is a decision on the merits that triggers § 2244's requirement that successive petitions only be filed with permission of a circuit court of appeals. See In re Rains, 659 F.3d 1274, 1275 (10th Cir. 2011) (collecting cases).
Thus, Petitioner must obtain a Pre-Filing Authorization from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit before this court may consider a second or successive § 2254 petition. See Gonzalez v. Crosby, 545 U.S. 524, 530 (2005) (“[B]efore the district court may accept a successive petition for filing, the court of appeals must determine that it presents a claim not previously raised that is sufficient to meet § 2244(b)(2)'s new-rule or actual-innocence provisions.”); see also In re Williams, 330 F.3d 277 (4th Cir. 2003). As Petitioner provides no indication that he received such permission from the Fourth Circuit prior to filing this Petition, it is subject to summary dismissal. Petitioner can obtain the forms necessary to seek authorization to file a second or successive habeas petition from the Clerk's Office of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Accordingly, the court recommends that the Petition for a writ of habeas corpus be dismissed without prejudice and without requiring the respondent to file a return.