Task: songer_method

What follows is an opinion from a United States Court of Appeals. Your task is to determine the nature of the proceeding in the court of appeals for the case, that is, the legal history of the case, indicating whether there had been prior appellate court proceeding on the same case prior to the decision currently coded. Assume that the case had been decided by the panel for the first time if there was no indication to the contrary in the opinion. The opinion usually, but not always, explicitly indicates when a decision was made "en banc" (though the spelling of "en banc" varies). However, if more than 3 judges were listed as participating in the decision, code the decision as enbanc even if there was no explicit description of the proceeding as en banc.

OPINION OF THE COURT
PER CURIAM:
Subsequent to two appeals to this court, United States ex rel. Mertz v. State of New Jersey, 423 F.2d 537 (1970), and 425 F.2d 819 (1970), appellant instituted a series of post-conviction relief proceedings in the New Jersey state courts. After the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court denied relief on appeal, he filed another petition for state habeas corpus relief in the New Jersey Superior Court on May 24, 1971. Prior to any adjudication thereof, he filed, on June 17, 1971, a Petition for Certification to the New Jersey Supreme Court. While both the state Superior Court and Supreme Court proceedings were pending, he filed a petition for removal to the United States District Court contending that he “cannot enjoy enforcement of his rights in the Courts of the State of New Jersey.” The district court denied the petition for removal. Appellant appeals from that denial. By brief, his counsel admits “respondent is technically correct in asserting that there is no legal basis here for federal removal under 28 U.S.C. § 1443 (1).” We agree.
The order of the district court will be affirmed.
. Nor is removal authorized under 28 U.S.C. § 1446 except by any defendant prior to trial.

Question: What is the nature of the proceeding in the court of appeals for this case?
A. decided by panel for first time (no indication of re-hearing or remand)
B. decided by panel after re-hearing (second time this case has been heard by this same panel)
C. decided by panel after remand from Supreme Court
D. decided by court en banc, after single panel decision
E. decided by court en banc, after multiple panel decisions
F. decided by court en banc, no prior panel decisions
G. decided by panel after remand to lower court
H. other
I. not ascertained
Answer:

Answer: A