Court Opinion

ID: 9896413
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-11-11 01:00:29.823595+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:14:53.968410
License: Public Domain

Case: 23-20308         Document: 00516964092             Page: 1      Date Filed: 11/10/2023

              United States Court of Appeals
                   for the Fifth Circuit                                              United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                               Fifth Circuit
                                      ____________                                           FILED
                                                                                 November 10, 2023
                                       No. 23-20308
                                      ____________                                      Lyle W. Cayce
                                                                                             Clerk
   Jose Rojas-Meliton,

                                                                    Petitioner—Appellant,

                                             versus

   Bobby Lumpkin, Director,
   Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division,

                                                Respondent—Appellee.
                      ______________________________

                      Appeal from the United States District Court
                          for the Southern District of Texas
                                USDC No. 4:22-CV-537
                      ______________________________

   Before Smith, Southwick, and Wilson, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam:*
          Jose Rojas-Meliton, Texas prisoner # 02149143, was convicted of
   aggravated sexual assault of a child. He currently appeals the district court’s
   denial of his motion under Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(a)(6) to
   reopen the appeal period for the denial of his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 application.
          Because Rojas-Meliton’s motion to reopen was filed under Rule

          _____________________
          *
              This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 23-20308      Document: 00516964092          Page: 2    Date Filed: 11/10/2023

                                    No. 23-20308

   4(a)(6), his motion for a certificate of appealability is DENIED as unneces-
   sary. See Ochoa Canales v. Quarterman, 507 F.3d 884, 888 (5th Cir. 2007);
   Dunn v. Cockrell, 302 F.3d 491, 492 (5th Cir. 2002). We dispense with fur-
   ther briefing because this appeal may be resolved on the available record.
          The district court did not abuse its discretion when it denied Rojas-
   Meliton’s motion to reopen. See In re Jones, 970 F.2d 36, 39 (5th Cir. 1992).
   Rojas-Meliton does not satisfy Rule 4(a)(6)(A) because his counsel received
   notice of the denial of his application within 21 days of judgment. See Perez
   v. Stephens, 784 F.3d 276, 283 (5th Cir. 2015). Additionally, we reject Rojas-
   Meliton’s argument that his counsel abandoned him and that such abandon-
   ment warranted an exception to Rule 4(a)(6)(A)’s strictures. See id. at 283–
   84; Resendiz v. Dretke, 452 F.3d 356, 361–62 (5th Cir. 2006); see also Bowles v.
   Russell, 5511 U.S. 205, 208, 214 (2007).
          The denial of the motion to reopen is AFFIRMED.

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