Opinion
Criminal Action No. 3:09CR133
07-19-2016
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. RODNEY LORENZO WYATT, JR.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
By Memorandum Opinion and Order entered on May 8, 2015, the Court denied a 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion filed by Rodney Lorenzo Wyatt. (ECF Nos. 52, 53.) On June 27, 2016, the Court received another 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion on behalf of Wyatt ("§ 2255 Motion," ECF No. 66).
The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 restricted the jurisdiction of the district courts to hear second or successive applications for federal habeas corpus relief by prisoners attacking the validity of their convictions and sentences by establishing a "gatekeeping mechanism." Felker v. Turpin, 518 U.S. 651, 657 (1996) (internal quotation marks omitted). Specifically, "[b]efore a second or successive application permitted by this section is filed in the district court, the applicant shall move in the appropriate court of appeals for an order authorizing the district court to consider the application." 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b)(3)(A). The Court has not received authorization from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to entertain Wyatt's § 2255 Motion. Moreover, on July 7, 2016, the Fourth Circuit denied Wyatt permission to file a successive § 2255 motion. Accordingly, the § 2255 Motion (ECF No. 66) will be dismissed for want of jurisdiction. The Court will deny a certificate of appealability.
An appropriate Final Order will accompany this Memorandum Opinion.
/s/_________
Robert E. Payne
Senior United States District Judge Richmond, Virginia
Date: July 19, 2016