DAVIS v. TERRY

• Decision Date: 05 November 2010
• Docket Number: No. 10-14534.,10-14534.
• Citation: 625 F.3d 716
• Parties: Troy Anthony DAVIS, Petitioner-Appellant, v. William TERRY, Respondent-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

625 F.3d 716

Troy Anthony DAVIS, Petitioner-Appellant,
v.
William TERRY, Respondent-Appellee.

No. 10-14534.

United States Court of Appeals,Eleventh Circuit.

Nov. 5, 2010.

625 F.3d 717

Jason C. Ewart, Danielle Garten, Philip Horton, Stephen Marsh, Steven G. Reade, Jonathan L. Stern, Arnold & Porter, LLP, Washington, DC, Amy Lee Copeland, Savannah, GA, Thomas H. Dunn, Brian S. Kammer, GA Resource Ctr., Atlanta, GA, for Davis.

Thurbert E. Baker, Susan V. Boleyn, Beth Burton, Mary Beth Westmoreland, Atlanta, GA, for Terry.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia.

Before DUBINA, Chief Judge, and BARKETT and MARCUS, Circuit Judges.

BY THE COURT:

[1] Petitioner, Troy Anthony Davis, filed a certificate of appealability (“COA”), with this court following the district court's denial of his request for a COA. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c), a habeas petitioner may not appeal from a district court's adverse ruling unless a circuit justice or judge issues a COA. A court will issue a COA “only if the applicant has made a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right.” 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2); see also Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 483-84, 120 S.Ct. 1595, 1603-04, 146 L.Ed.2d 542 (2000). To satisfy this standard, a petitioner must show that it is debatable among reasonable jurists that the district court's assessment of the claim was wrong. Slack, 529 U.S. at 484, 120 S.Ct. at 1604.

Because of the unusual procedural posture of this case, we set forth the procedural history of this case in detail. In 1991, a Georgia jury convicted Davis of murder, obstruction of a law enforcement officer, two counts of aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. The trial court sentenced Davis to death for the murder conviction. The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed Davis's convictions and death sentence.

625 F.3d 718

Davis v. State, 263 Ga. 5, 426 S.E.2d 844 (1993). The United States Supreme Court denied Davis's petition for writ of certiorari. Davis v. Georgia, 510 U.S. 950, 114 S.Ct. 396, 126 L.Ed.2d 344 (1993). Subsequently, in 1994, Davis filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in Georgia Superior Court, which the court denied. The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed the denial of Davis's habeas petition, Davis v. Turpin, 273 Ga. 244, 539 S.E.2d 129 (2000), and the United States Supreme Court denied his petition for writ of certiorari, Davis v. Turpin, 534 U.S. 842, 122 S.Ct. 100, 151 L.Ed.2d 59 (2001).

In 2001, Davis filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 in federal district court. The district court denied his petition for relief, and this court affirmed. Davis v. Terry, 465 F.3d 1249 (11th Cir.2006), cert. denied, 551 U.S. 1145, 127 S.Ct. 3010, 168 L.Ed.2d 728 (2007). In 2008, Davis filed an application with this court for leave to file a second or successive habeas corpus petition, and this court denied his application. In re Davis, 565 F.3d 810 (11th Cir.2009). In that opinion, we specifically noted that Davis could “petition the United States Supreme Court to hear his claim under its original jurisdiction.” Id. at 826.

Davis followed our suggestion and filed an original habeas corpus petition in the United States Supreme Court, citing 28 U.S.C. §§ 2241, 2254(a), 1651(a), and Article III of the U.S. Constitution, as providing the basis for the Supreme Court's jurisdiction. Upon consideration, the Supreme Court...