Grant v. United States
- Alvin Hellerstein
- 1:23-cv-05592
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Grant v. United States, Judge Hellerstein again denied a certificate of appealability because Grant had not substantially shown a constitutional violation.
Donovan Grant, whose request for a certificate of appealability was denied.
What happened
In Grant v. United States, Donovan Grant challenged the earlier denial of his petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, which seeks to set aside a federal sentence or conviction on specified legal grounds.
Grant filed his appeal notice late and said he had not received the earlier order when it was mailed. The Second Circuit asked the district court to treat his notice as a request to extend or reopen the appeal deadline. The court extended the deadline but declined to issue a certificate of appealability.
Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein again denied a certificate of appealability, finding that Grant had not made the required substantial showing that a constitutional right was denied.
The detailed version
- Grant v. United States · No. 1:23-cv-05592
- Alvin Hellerstein
- Jan. 28, 2025
Background
Donovan Grant filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 challenging his federal case. In an August 10, 2023 order, the court denied the petition and held that Grant had not made a substantial showing that he was denied a constitutional right. The court therefore declined to issue a certificate of appealability, which is required for an appeal from the denial of a § 2255 petition in the circumstances described by the order.
Grant later filed an untimely notice of appeal and stated that he had not received the August 10 order when it was initially mailed. The Second Circuit directed the district court to treat the notice as a motion either to extend the time for appealing or to reopen that time.
Earlier Ruling on the Appeal Deadline
In an August 28, 2024 order, the court treated Grant’s notice as a motion to extend the appeal deadline under Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(a)(5) and granted that motion. The court nevertheless declined to issue a certificate of appealability.
Current Ruling
The Second Circuit asked the district court to clarify the August 28 order. Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein stated that he had previously found, and found again, that Grant had not made a substantial showing that a constitutional right was denied. The court therefore denied a certificate of appealability.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.