John Lynch v. James Blodgett

ORDER

The issue before the court is whether a state prisoner who has petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus in federal court must obtain a certificate of probable cause to appeal the denial of a post-judgment motion for relief under Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b). We conclude the petitioner must obtain a certificate of probable cause and remand this action to the district court for the limited purpose of determining whether a certificate of probable cause should issue.

Procedural Background

Appellant John Lynch (“Lynch”) is a Washington state prisoner who filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 . On June 19,1992, the district court granted respondent’s motion for summary judgment and dismissed the petition. Lynch filed a timely notice of appeal from the district court’s judgment, which was assigned Appeal No. 92-36520. Pursuant to Fed.R.App.P. 22(b), on July 9, 1993, the district court declined to issue a certificate of probable cause for the appeal to proceed. This court also denied Lynch a certificate of probable cause on August 26, 1992, thus terminating Appeal No. 92-36520.

Lynch filed in district court on September 28, 1992 a motion for relief from judgment…