Denton v. Boyd

Filing 6

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER, the Clerk is DIRECTED to transfer this action to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Signed by District Judge Clifton L Corker on 2/17/21. (c/m Timothy Denton #409482 NORTHEAST CORRECTIONAL COMPLEX P.O. BOX 5000 MOUNTAIN CITY, TN 37683 and USCA)(ADA)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE
AT GREENEVILLE
TIMOTHY DENTON,
Petitioner,
v.
WARDEN BOYD,
Respondent.

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No.: 2:21-CV-32-DCLC-CRW

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
Petitioner Timothy Denton is an inmate proceeding pro se on a federal habeas petition filed
pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, in which he seeks to challenge the legality of his confinement under
a 2006 Sullivan County, Tennessee judgment of conviction for first-degree murder [Doc. 1].
Petitioner has already filed one unsuccessful § 2254 petition challenging the judgment he
seeks to challenge in the instant petition. See Timothy Lynn Denton v. Randy Lee, 2:13-cv-27TRM-SKL (E.D. Tenn. Mar. 17, 2016); No. 16-6093 (6th Cir. Apr. 14, 2017). The Antiterrorism
and Effective Death Penalty Act requires that an applicant seeking to file a second or successive
petition first “move in the appropriate court of appeals for an order authorizing the district court
to consider the application.” 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b)(3)(A). The Court has not received an order
from the Sixth Circuit authorizing the Court to consider the pending petition.
Accordingly, the Court finds that the § 2254 petition filed in this case is a second or
successive petition subject to § 2244(b)(3). Rather than dismissing a habeas petition on the basis
that it is successive, a district court is to transfer the file to the court of appeals, which will construe
the petition as a request for authorization under § 2244(b)(3). See In re Sims, 111 F.3d 45, 47 (6th

Case 2:21-cv-00032-DCLC-CRW Document 6 Filed 02/17/21 Page 1 of 2 PageID #: 38

Cir. 1997). Therefore, the Clerk is DIRECTED to transfer this action to the United States Court
of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1631 and In re Sims, 111 F.3d at 47.
SO ORDERED.
E N T E R:
s/Clifton L. Corker
United States District Judge

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