Opinion ID: 736909
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Court of Appeals COA Procedure

Text: 33 In the pending case, the District Court has denied a COA. That raises the question of whether this Court will issue a COA. In considering this question, we must first decide what obligation the appellant has with respect to a COA. On this point, there is again some surface inconsistency between the language in section 2253 and Rule 22, all adopted in the same section of the AEDPA. Section 2253 provides that a COA may be issued only if the applicant has made a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right. 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2) (as amended). However, Rule 22 provides that, where no express request for a certificate is filed with the court of appeals, the notice of appeal shall be deemed to constitute a request addressed to the judges of the court of appeals. Fed. R.App. P. 22(b) (as amended). A notice of appeal does not normally set forth the issues to be appealed, much less indicate the substantiality of any constitutional issues. See Fed. R.App. P. 3(c) (content of notice of appeal). 34 We think these provisions can be harmonized by proceeding in the following manner. Where the papers available to the court of appeals (normally, the petition for section 2254 or 2255 relief, the district court's ruling, and the transcript of a hearing on the motion) make it clear that the appellant has made a substantial showing of a denial of a constitutional right, we will grant a COA. If such papers make it clear that no substantial showing of a denial of a constitutional right exists, we will deny a COA. In cases where the matter is unclear, we will treat the notice of appeal as a request for a COA, as contemplated by Rule 22, but will afford the appellant an opportunity to make the substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right, as contemplated by section 2253. 35 In the pending case, the defendants' challenges to their convictions were presented to the District Court in both a motion for a new trial and a motion to vacate their sentences under section 2255. Inspection of the papers available to us does not reveal a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right, but does not preclude the possibility of such a showing. Among the contentions is a claim that a government agent falsified his account of one defendant's statement and a claim that this and other agents are under investigation for lying in other criminal prosecutions. Rather than assess on a sparse record the substantiality of whatever constitutional claim the appellants might have, we will afford the appellants 20 days to submit papers identifying with particularity their basis for claiming a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right.