Long v Medeiros

Filing 26

Judge F. Dennis Saylor, IV: Certificate of Appealability (FDS, law1)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS
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DERYCK LONG,
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Petitioner,
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v.
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SEAN MEDEIROS,
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Respondent.
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_______________________________________)

Civil Action No.
17-12064-FDS

ORDER ON CERTIFICATE OF APPEALABILITY
SAYLOR, J.
This is a petition seeking a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254.
Petitioner Deryck Long was convicted of first-degree murder and illegal possession of a firearm.
The Court has denied his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. He can only appeal that denial if
he receives a certificate of appealability. For the following reasons, the Court will certify the
appealability of this denial only as to Long’s Sixth Amendment claim.
A certificate of appealability will issue only if the petitioner “has made a substantial
showing of the denial of a constitutional right.” 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2). That standard is
satisfied by “demonstrating that jurists of reason could disagree with the district court’s
resolution of [petitioner’s] constitutional claims or that jurists could conclude the issues
presented are adequate to deserve encouragement to proceed further.” Miller-El v. Cockrell, 537
U.S. 322, 327 (2003) (citing Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 484 (2000)). That standard must
be independently satisfied as to “each and every issue raised by a habeas petitioner.” See Bui v.
DiPaolo, 170 F.3d 232, 236 (1st Cir. 1999).
The Court concludes that jurists of reason could disagree as to whether Long’s counsel

rendered ineffective assistance in violation of the Sixth Amendment by failing to introduce CSLI
data to discredit Forde, a witness who provided critical testimony for the Commonwealth, and by
failing to investigate that data sufficiently. The relevant standard is not, however, satisfied as to
his claim under the Fourth Amendment that Forde’s testimony should have been suppressed
because it was insufficiently attenuated from the illegal wiretap.
Accordingly, a certificate of appealability is GRANTED only as to Long’s claim that his
counsel rendered ineffective assistance in violation of the Sixth Amendment by failing to
introduce CSLI data to discredit Forde, and by failing to investigate that data sufficiently.
So Ordered.
/s/ F. Dennis Saylor
F. Dennis Saylor, IV
United States District Judge

Dated: July 2, 2019

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