Scott v. Warden of Buena Vista Corr. Facility

Justia.com Opinion Summary: Pro se prisoner Petitioner Lynn Scott sought a certificate of appealability (COA) to challenge a district court's dismissal of his petition for habeas relief. In the spring of 2000, Petitioner was sentenced in Colorado state court to consecutive terms of imprisonment of ten years and six months. Petitioner was subsequently released in 2007 to serve a five-year term of parole. Approximately three months later, Petitioner's parole was revoked due to multiple violations of his parole agreement. While incarcerated, Petitioner was convicted by prison authorities of possessing an unauthorized legal document. Petitioner unsuccessfully challenged his conviction in the Colorado state courts. In 2011, Petitioner initiated federal proceedings by filing for the writ of habeas corpus asserting that his disciplinary convictions were constitutionally invalid. The district court dismissed the matter for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. According to the district court, Petitioner failed to properly exhaust his state court remedies. Finding that Petitioner indeed failed to exhaust his state remedies to challenge his sentence and subsequent parole revocations, the Tenth Circuit denied Petitioner's application for a COA and dismissed his appeal.



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