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vacating judgment and remanding case to district court with directions to dismiss case as moot following death of petitioner, who had appealed district court's denial of his § 2254 petition
Summary of this case from Foulks v. GordyOpinion
No. 11–10255.
2012-10-30
Michael George BRUNO, Sr., Petitioner–Appellant, v. SECRETARY, FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, Respondent–Appellee.
Todd Gerald Scher (Court–Appointed), Law Office of Todd G. Scher, PL, Dania Beach, FL, William M. Hennis, III (Court–Appointed), Fort Lauderdale, FL, for Petitioner–Appellant. Lisa–Marie Lerner, Atty. Gen.'s Office, West Palm Beach, FL, for Respondent–Appellee.
Todd Gerald Scher (Court–Appointed), Law Office of Todd G. Scher, PL, Dania Beach, FL, William M. Hennis, III (Court–Appointed), Fort Lauderdale, FL, for Petitioner–Appellant. Lisa–Marie Lerner, Atty. Gen.'s Office, West Palm Beach, FL, for Respondent–Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida (No. 0:06–cv–60370–MGC); Marcia G. Cooke, Judge.
Before TJOFLAT, MARTIN and EDMONDSON, Circuit Judges.
Prior report: S.D.Fla., 2010 WL 1258044. PER CURIAM:
Michael George Bruno, Sr., a Florida death row inmate, appeals from the district court's denial of his first federal habeas corpus petition, brought pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. This case is currently under submission after briefing and oral argument.
On October 24, 2012, Mr. Bruno's counsel filed a motion to dismiss appeal because he was notified on October 23 that Mr. Bruno died of natural causes. The Florida Department of Corrections' website now also indicates that Mr. Bruno is deceased. See Offender Search, Florida Department of Corrections, (last updated October 23, 2012).
The death of the habeas petitioner renders a habeas action moot. See Dove v. United States, 423 U.S. 325, 96 S.Ct. 579, 46 L.Ed.2d 531 (1976). In light of this, we vacate the judgment and remand the case to the district court with directions to dismiss the case as moot. See Knapp v. Baker, 509 F.2d 922, 922–23 (5th Cir.1975); see also Griffey v. Lindsey, 349 F.3d 1157, 1157 (9th Cir.2003); McMillin v. Bowersox, 102 F.3d 987 (8th Cir.1996); Hillman v. McCaughtry, 14 F.3d 350, 350 (7th Cir.1994); Hann v. Hawk, 205 F.2d 839, 839–40 (8th Cir.1953).
In Bonner v. City of Prichard, 661 F.2d 1206, 1209 (11th Cir.1981) (en banc), we adopted as binding precedent all decisions of the former Fifth Circuit handed down before October 1, 1981.
VACATED AND REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS.