Patton
United States v. Patton
Opinion
Lead Opinion
MEMORANDUM *
Appellant James A. Patton (“Patton”) appeals the district court’s dismissal, on the basis of timeliness, of his second petition for habeas relief brought pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 . We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1291 and 2253(a), and we reverse.
On June 27, 2000, just less than one year after Patton’s state convictions were dismissed, Patton brought a § 2255 petition to correct his sentence. The district court dismissed that petition because it was Patton’s second petition and because he had failed to obtain this Court’s permission to file a second or successive habeas petition as required by §§ 2244(b)(3) and 2255. Patton appealed that dismissal. On August 21, 2001, a screening panel of this Court denied Patton’s request for a certificate of appealability.
Patton subsequently sought this Court’s permission to bring a second habeas petition under § 2255. On April 12, 2002, we granted leave for him to do so. Patton refiled his petition on July 16, 2002. The district court again dismissed the petition, this time on the ground that it was untimely. This dismissal was in error, as we had previously addressed the timeliness issue facing Patton.