794 Fed.Appx. 157 (3rd Cir. 2020), 19-3019, Lewis v. Wetzel

• Docket Nº: 19-3019
• Citation: 794 Fed.Appx. 157
• Opinion Judge: PER CURIAM
• Party Name: Reginald S. LEWIS, Appellant v. John E. WETZEL, Secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections; Cynthia Link, (Former) Superintendent, SCI Graterford; Michael Wenerowicz, Deputy Secretary, Eastern District, P.A. Dept. of Corrections; Kelly Long, Mail Room Supervisor, SCI-Graterford; Former Captain Spagnoletti, SCI Graterford
• Attorney: Reginald S. Lewis, PADRP, Pro Se
• Judge Panel: Before: AMBRO, GREENAWAY, Jr., and BIBAS, Circuit Judges
• Case Date: February 24, 2020
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals, Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

Page 157

794 Fed.Appx. 157 (3rd Cir. 2020)

Reginald S. LEWIS, Appellant

v.

John E. WETZEL, Secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections; Cynthia Link, (Former) Superintendent, SCI Graterford; Michael Wenerowicz, Deputy Secretary, Eastern District, P.A. Dept. of Corrections; Kelly Long, Mail Room Supervisor, SCI-Graterford; Former Captain Spagnoletti, SCI Graterford

No. 19-3019

United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit

February 24, 2020

Submitted for Possible Dismissal Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B) or Summary Action Pursuant to Third Circuit LAR 27.4 and I.O.P. 10.6 January 30, 2020

NOT PRECEDENTIAL

Editorial Note:

This opinion is not regarded as Precedents which bind the court under Third Circuit Internal Operating Procedure Rule 5.7. (See Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure Rule 32.1)

On Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (D.C. Civil Action No. 2-18-cv-02541), District Judge: Honorable Juan R. Sánchez

Reginald S. Lewis, PADRP, Pro Se

Before: AMBRO, GREENAWAY, Jr., and BIBAS, Circuit Judges

OPINION^[*]

PER CURIAM

Pro se appellant Reginald Lewis appeals the District Court’s order dismissing his complaint. For the reasons that follow, we will summarily affirm the District Court’s judgment.

In 1983, Lewis was convicted of murder in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas. He was sentenced to death. In 2000, he filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 in the District Court. See E.D. Pa. Civ. A. No. 00-cv-00802. The District Court denied Lewis’s guilt-phase claims but granted sentencing relief on account of counsel’s failure to investigate and present mitigating evidence during the trial’s penalty phase. Both Lewis and the Commonwealth appealed to this Court. On appeal, Lewis moved to recuse Judge Fisher from the panel, and that request was denied. Subsequently, the Court vacated the District Court’s order and remanded for an evidentiary hearing on Lewis’s penalty-phase claims. See Lewis v. Horn, 581 F.3d 92 (3d Cir. 2009). Following remand, the Commonwealth agreed not to contest Lewis’s challenge to his capital sentence, and he was resentenced to life imprisonment.

In 2016, Lewis filed a motion under Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b)(6), arguing that the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Williams v. Pennsylvania, __ U.S. __, 136 S.Ct. 1899, 195 L.Ed.2d 132 (2016), established that Judge Fisher should have recused himself from the § 2254 appeal. The District Court denied the motion, explaining that Lewis had presented "no evidence that Judge Fisher ‘had significant, personal involvement as a prosecutor in a critical decision’ regarding Lewis’s state court conviction, direct appeal to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, or collateral appeal under Pennsylvania’s Post Conviction Relief Act." ECF No. 90 at 1 n.1 (quoting Williams, 136 S.Ct. at 1905)). Lewis appealed, and we denied a COA. See C.A. No. 17-1604. Lewis filed a petition for certiorari to the Supreme Court. The respondents filed a waiver of their right to respond, and the Supreme Court denied the petition. See S.Ct. No. 17-6906.

Lewis then filed the civil-rights complaint at issue here. He alleged that various prison defendants had...