Opinion
Case No. 6:20-cv-145-JDK-JDL
02-10-2021
KENNY LEROY JOHNSON, Petitioner, v. DIRECTOR, TDCJ-CID, Respondent.
ORDER ADOPTING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION OF THE UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
Petitioner Kenny Leroy Johnson, an inmate confined within the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, proceeding pro se, filed this federal petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. The petition was referred to United States Magistrate Judge, the Honorable John D. Love, for findings of fact, conclusions of law, and recommendations for disposition.
On December 28, 2020, after ordering Respondent to answer and receiving copies of the state court records, Judge Love issued a Report recommending that the Court deny the petition as barred by the statute of limitations. Docket No. 16. Judge Love also recommended that a certificate of appealability be denied. A copy of this Report was mailed to Petitioner.
This Court reviews the findings and conclusions of the Magistrate Judge de novo only if a party objects within fourteen days of service of the Report and Recommendation. 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1). In conducting a de novo review, the Court examines the entire record and makes an independent assessment under the law. Douglass v. United Servs. Auto. Ass'n, 79 F.3d 1415, 1430 (5th Cir. 1996) (en banc), superseded on other grounds by statute, 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1) (extending the time to file objections from ten to fourteen days). Here, Petitioner did not object in the prescribed period. The Court therefore reviews the Magistrate Judge's findings for clear error or abuse of discretion and reviews the legal conclusions to determine whether they are contrary to law. See United States v. Wilson, 864 F.2d 1219, 1221 (5th Cir. 1989), cert. denied, 492 U.S. 918 (1989) (holding that, if no objections to a Magistrate Judge's Report are filed, the standard of review is "clearly erroneous, abuse of discretion and contrary to law").
Having reviewed the Magistrate Judge's Report and the record in this case, the Court finds no clear error or abuse of discretion and no conclusions contrary to law. Accordingly, the Court hereby ADOPTS the Report and Recommendation of the United States Magistrate Judge (Docket No. 16) as the findings of this Court. This petition for habeas corpus is hereby DENIED and this action is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE as barred by the statute of limitations. The Court DENIES a certificate of appealability.
So ORDERED and SIGNED this 10th day of February, 2021.
/s/_________
JEREMY D. KERNODLE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE