Opinion
Case No. 2:04-CV-460 TS.
July 13, 2004
ORDER
Petitioner, Alex Verikokidis, has filed a habeas corpus petition. See 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (West 1994 Supp. 2003). This is Petitioner's third habeas petition before this Court. The first was dismissed without prejudice, upon granting Petitioner's motion to withdraw his petition. Verikokidis v. Galetka, No. 2:96-CV-966W (D. Utah Feb. 25, 1997). The second was denied because Petitioner failed to file it within the period of limitation. Verikokides v. Galetka, No. 2:00-CV-535TS (D. Utah Aug. 30, 2001), aff'd sub nom. Verikokidis v. Galetka, No. 01-4203 (10th Cir. July 5, 2002). The current petition is thus "second or successive." See 28 U.S.C.A. § 2244(b) (West Supp. 2003).
Second or successive habeas petitions cannot be filed in district court until the petitioner "move[s] in the appropriate court of appeals for an order authorizing the district court to consider the application.'" Id. § 2244(b)(3)(A). However, Petitioner appears to have filed the current petition here without first asking permission from the Tenth Circuit. When a second or successive § 2254 petition is filed in a district court without the necessary appellate court sanction, it must be transferred under 28 U.S.C. § 1631 to the proper court. Coleman v. United States, 106 F.3d 339, 341 (10th Cir. 1997).
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that this second or successive petition be transferred under 28 U.S.C. § 1631 to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.