Opinion
22-6143
08-18-2022
JIMMY CALDWELL, Petitioner-Appellant, v. JANET DOWLING, Warden, Respondent-Appellee.
D.C. No. 5:22-CV-00340-JD, W.D. Okla.
Before HOLMES, PHILLIPS, and ROSSMAN, Circuit Judges.
ORDER
We raise sua sponte the question of whether this court has jurisdiction to consider this appeal, which arises out of Jimmy Caldwell's application for habeas relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. On June 23, 2022, a magistrate judge recommended that the district court dismiss Mr. Caldwell's § 2254 application as untimely. The district court has not yet ruled on that recommendation. Mr. Caldwell previously attempted to appeal the magistrate judge's recommendation to this court, but voluntarily dismissed that appeal after this court informed him that the district court had not yet entered a final decision in the matter, and this court's jurisdiction is limited to review of final decisions. See Caldwell v. Dowling, No. 22-6118.
The mandate from the prior appeal was docketed by the district court on August 2, 2022. Mr. Caldwell has filed another notice of appeal from "the final judgment" entered on August 2, 2022. But the August 2, 2022 entry is not the final judgment of the district court; it is this court's mandate from the prior appeal, which represents the transfer of the case back to the district court. Mr. Caldwell cannot appeal that mandate to this court, and the district court still has not entered a final judgment in the underlying case. We do not have jurisdiction to consider this appeal.
APPEAL DISMISSED.