Brandon Crawford v. Eddie Pearson

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Certificate of appealability granted. Originating case number: 1:13-cv-00773-TSE-JFA. Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [999855963].. [15-6498]

Appeal: 15-6498

Doc: 26

Filed: 06/16/2016

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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 15-6498

BRANDON MICHAEL CRAWFORD,
Petitioner - Appellant,
v.
EDDIE L. PEARSON, Warden, Greensville Correctional Center,
Respondent - Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of Virginia, at Alexandria.
T. S. Ellis, III, Senior
District Judge. (1:13-cv-00773-TSE-JFA)

Submitted:

June 6, 2016

Decided:

June 16, 2016

Before SHEDD, WYNN, and HARRIS, Circuit Judges.

Vacated and remanded by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Michael Anthony Petrino, KIRKLAND & ELLIS, LLP, Washington,
D.C., for Appellant.
Craig Stallard, Assistant Attorney
General, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

Appeal: 15-6498

Doc: 26

Filed: 06/16/2016

Pg: 2 of 2

PER CURIAM:
Brandon
court’s

Michael

order

Crawford

denying

relief

seeks
on

to
28

U.S.C.

his

appeal

the

district

§ 2254

(2012)

petition seeking to challenge his Virginia sentence of mandatory
life without parole under Miller v. Alabama, 132 S. Ct. 2455
(2012). *

The

district
applicable

retroactively

court
to

concluded
cases

on

that

Miller

purposes of 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(1)(C) (2012).

not

review

collateral

was

for

Subsequent to the

district court’s decision, the Supreme Court held in Montgomery
v. Louisiana, 136 S. Ct. 718, 732 (2016), that “Miller announced
a

new

substantive

rule

that

is

retroactive

in

cases

on

collateral review.”

Because the district court did not have the

benefit

decision,

of

this

appealability,

vacate

the

we

judgment,

proceedings in light of Montgomery.
the

merits

of

Crawford’s

grant
and

a

certificate

remand

for

of

further

We express no opinion as to

petition.

We

dispense

with

oral

argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately
presented in the materials before this court and argument would
not aid the decisional process.
VACATED AND REMANDED

*

Crawford received this mandatory life sentence for two
counts of capital murder; he was 17 at the time he committed the
offenses.

2