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Filed: Patrick Fisher
Filed: Patrick Fisher
JAN 8 1998
PATRICK FISHER
Clerk
ROBERT E. COTNER,
Petitioner-Appellant,
v.
MICHAEL CODY, Warden;
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE
STATE OF OKLAHOMA,
No. 96-5269
(D.C. No. 94-CV-323)
(N.D. Okla.)
Respondents-Appellees.
After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined
unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist the determination of
this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a); 10th Cir. R. 34.1.9. The case is therefore
ordered submitted without oral argument.
This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the
doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. The court
generally disfavors the citation of orders and judgments; nevertheless, an order
and judgment may be cited under the terms and conditions of 10th Cir. R. 36.3.
Petitioner Robert E. Cotner seeks leave to appeal from the district courts
order dismissing without prejudice his petition for a writ of habeas corpus under
28 U.S.C. 2254 for failure to exhaust state remedies. We construe his
application for a certificate of appealability as one for probable cause, 1 deny that
application, and dismiss the appeal.
Cotner was convicted in 1992, in case No. CRF-91-194 in the District
Court of Creek County, Oklahoma, of (1) possession of a controlled drug with
intent to distribute, after former conviction of one drug related felony; (2)
possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, after former conviction of one
drug related felony; (3) failure to affix a tax stamp, after former conviction of two
felonies; (4) weapon use in the commission of a crime, after former conviction of
The Supreme Court recently held that the new provisions of Chapter 153 of
Title 28 of the United States Code, which includes 2253(c) requiring certificates
of appealability, added by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of
1996 (AEDPA), are generally not applicable to cases filed before AEDPAs
effective date, April 24, 1996. See Lindh v. Murphy, 117 S. Ct. 2059, 2068
(1997). Thus, Lennox v. Evans, 87 F.3d 431 (10th Cir. 1996), cert. denied, 117
S. Ct. 746 (1997), has been overruled to the extent that Lennox held that
2253(c) applied to habeas petitions filed prior to AEDPAs effective date. See
United States v. Kunzman, 125 F.3d 1363, 1364 n.2 (10th Cir. 1997) (en banc).
Because the habeas petition in this case was filed prior to that date, petitioner is
not subject to AEDPA, but he is subject to 2253s previous requirement that he
obtain a certificate of probable cause to appeal. Regardless of which label
applies, petitioners substantive burden is the same. As we held in Lennox, both
certificates of probable cause and of appealability require that a petitioner make
a substantial showing of the denial of a federal constitutional right. 87 F.3d
at 434.
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remedies for each of his claims, see Miranda v. Cooper, 967 F.2d 392, 398 (10th
Cir. 1992), and he has failed to do so. Cotner thus has neither made a substantial
showing of the denial of a federal constitutional right nor demonstrated that the
district court abused its discretion in dismissing his petition without prejudice.
We note that in an appeal involving a separate habeas petition Cotner filed
in the Western District of Oklahoma challenging the same convictions and
sentences challenged in this case, we ordered the district court to enter an order
denying the petition in its entirety. Cotner v. Hargett, No. 96-6349 (10th Cir.
Jan. 8, 1998) (unpublished). Therefore, in any future habeas petition, Cotner
must comply with the requirements of 28 U.S.C. 2244(b). See Hatch v.
Oklahoma, 92 F.3d 1012, 1014 (10th Cir. 1996).
The application to proceed in forma pauperis is GRANTED. The
application for a certificate of probable cause is DENIED. All outstanding
motions are DENIED. The appeal is DISMISSED.
Monroe G. McKay
Circuit Judge
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