Opinion
Criminal No. JKB-14-0015
12-01-2020
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. TRAVIS LAMONT FOOTE Defendant
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
Now pending before the Court is the Defendant's request for additional jail credit (ECF No. 105). The Government has responded (ECF No. 107).
This matter is not ripe for determination by the Court. The Defendant has failed to exhaust his administrative remedies. This record lacks evidence of the Defendant having fully utilized the administrative process within the Bureau of Prisons through which that agency's calculation of his sentence, jail credit, and release date may be challenged. Exhaustion of that process is a prerequisite to proceeding in Court. Further, as the Government points out, that administrative process would serve a crucial role in the ultimate determination of this case as it is there, at the Bureau of Prisons, that the jail credit investigation and arithmetic must first be completed.
While the Government has raised other objections, this matter is disposed of solely on the ground that the Defendant has failed to exhaust his administrative remedies. The Court does not address the other objections.
For the foregoing reasons, the Motion (ECF No. 105) is DENIED.
To the extent that this is a proceeding in which the Defendant must obtain a Certificate of Appealability before advancing to the Fourth Circuit, the granting of such a Certificate is DENIED. The Defendant has failed to demonstrate that reasonable jurists would find this Court's determination of the exhaustion issue debatable or wrong. The Defendant has failed to meet the standard for a Certificate of Appealability.
Dated this 1 day of December, 2020.
BY THE COURT:
/s/_________
James K. Bredar
Chief Judge