Opinion ID: 185166
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Who Decides

Text: 5 The requirement that a defendant seek a COA to appeal the denial of a § 2255 petition stems from 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1), which states in relevant part: 6 Unless a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate ofappealability, an appeal may not be taken to the court ofappeals from ... the final order in a proceeding undersection 2255. 7 Rule 22(b) of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure prescribes the procedure for seeking a COA: 8 (1) In a ... 28 U.S.C. § 2255 proceeding, the applicant can not take an appeal unless a circuit justice or a circuit or district judge issues a certificate of appealability un-der 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c). If an applicant files a notice of appeal, the district judge who rendered the judgment must either issue a certificate of appealability or state why a certificate should not issue. The district clerk must send the certificate or statement to the court of appeals with the notice of appeal and the file of the district-court proceedings. If the district judge has denied the certificate, the applicant may request a circuit judge to issue the certificate. 9 (2) A request addressed to the court of appeals may be considered by a circuit judge or judges, as the court prescribes. If no express request for a certificate is filed, the notice of appeal constitutes a request addressed to the judges of the court of appeals. 10 As a threshold matter, 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1) does not clearly state that district court judges are empowered to issue COAs--it simply says circuit justice or judge. However, Rule 22(b) contemplates that judge means district judge, and all the circuits addressing the issue have held that district court judges have the power to issue COAs. We join these circuits. See Hunter v. United States, 101 F.3d 1565, 1573-83 (11th Cir. 1996) (en banc) (containing a detailed discussion of the issue), overruled in part on other grounds by Lindh v. Murphy, 521 U.S. 320 (1997); see also GrantChase v. Commissioner, New Hampshire Dep't of Corrections, 145 F.3d 431, 435 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 525 U.S. 941 (1998); Lozada v. United States, 107 F.3d 1011, 1015-17 (2d Cir. 1997), overruled on other grounds by United States v. Perez, 129 F.3d 255 (2d Cir. 1997); United States v. Eyer, 113 F.3d 470, 472-74 (3d Cir. 1997); Else v. Johnson, 104 F.3d 82, 82-83 (5th Cir. 1997); Lyons v. Ohio Adult Parole Auth., 105 F.3d 1063, 1073 (6th Cir. 1997), overruled in part on other grounds by Lindh v. Murphy, 521 U.S. 320 (1997); Tiedeman v. Benson, 122 F.3d 518, 522 (8th Cir. 1997); United States v. Asrar, 116 F.3d 1268, 1269-70 (9th Cir. 1997); United States v. Riddick, 104 F.3d 1239, 1240-41 (10th Cir. 1997), overruled on other grounds by United States v. Kunzman, 125 F.3d 1363 (10th Cir. 1997). 11 The parties are in accord that the language of Rule 22(b) contemplates that the district court should rule in the first instance on whether a COA should be issued, as other courts have held. See, e.g., Lozada, 107 F.3d at 1016-17; Kincade v. Sparkman, 117 F.3d 949, 953 (6th Cir. 1997). We agree.The language of the Rule prescribes that upon the filing of the notice of appeal, the district court must decide the COA issue and the district court clerk must provide appropriate documentation to the court of appeals. The Rule continues on to state that upon denial by the district court, a request may be made of a circuit judge. We therefore hold that Rule 22(b) requires initial application in the district court for a COA before the court of appeals acts on a COA request. 12 Rule 22(b)(2) provides that when an appellant fails to file an express request for a COA with the court of appeals, the notice of appeal constitutes such a request to the judges of the court of appeals. Normally, we will examine such requests after the district court has ruled, see Edwards v. United States, 114 F.3d 1083, 1084 (11th Cir. 1997), and we will generally transfer COA requests to the district court when the district court has not ruled. However, any defect in procedure occasioned by the appellant's failure to make application in this case is not jurisdictional, given the language of 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1), and Rule 22(b)(2). Therefore, in view of the late stage in the proceedings at which we came to confront the question, we will proceed to consider whether to grant the COA ourselves. Insofar as the failure of the appellant to make application to the district court creates any obstacle, we note that under Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 2, we have the authority to suspend any provision of the Rules of Appellate Procedure, including Rule 22(b)(1) except in limited instances not here relevant. We therefore exercise that authority and proceed.