Franklin v. Franklin , 175 F. App'x 972 ( 2006 )

F I L E D
United States Court of Appeals
Tenth Circuit
April 11, 2006
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
Elisabeth A. Shumaker
TENTH CIRCUIT Clerk of Court
EARL LEROY FRANKLIN, JR.,
Petitioner-Appellant,
No. 05-6309
v.
(D.C. No. 04-CV-00236-T)
(W.D. Okla.)
ERIC R. FRANKLIN, Warden,
Respondent-Appellee.
ORDER
Before HARTZ, EBEL, and TYMKOVICH, Circuit Judges.
Petitioner-Appellant Earl Leroy Franklin seeks a certificate of appealability
(“COA”), see 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c), to enable him to appeal from the district
court’s decision denying Franklin habeas relief, see 28 U.S.C. § 2254, from his
Oklahoma convictions and sentences for possessing cocaine and assault and
battery on a police officer. 1 To be entitled to a COA, a defendant must make a
“substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right.” 28 U.S.C.
§ 2253(c)(2). A defendant makes such a showing if it appears that “reasonable
jurists could debate whether (or, for that matter, agree that) the petition should
1
We grant Franklin’s motion to proceed on appeal in forma pauperis.
See 28 U.S.C. § 1915.
have been resolved in a different manner or that the issues presented were
adequate to deserve encouragement to proceed further.” Slack v. McDaniel, 529
U.S. 473, 483-84 (2000) (quotations omitted).
In his appellate brief, Franklin asserts three claims for habeas relief: 1) he
was the subject of an unreasonable seizure, contrary to the Fourth Amendment;
2) the trial court denied him due process when it permitted the Government to
present Officer Moon as a rebuttal witness; and 3) the trial court denied Franklin
due process by improperly instructing jurors on the applicable sentencing range. 2
For substantially the reasons stated by the magistrate judge, in his report and
recommendation adopted by the district court, we conclude Franklin has failed to
make a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right. Therefore, we
DENY his application for a COA and DISMISS this appeal.
ENTERED FOR THE COURT
David M. Ebel
Circuit Judge
2
In the district court, Franklin also argued that his sentence violated
Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296 (2004), and Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530
U.S. 466 (2000). Because he does not reassert that argument on appeal, however,
we deem the argument waived.
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