Ajaelo v. Madden

Background

Jideofo Ajaelo, identified as a state prisoner, filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 challenging a state-court judgment. Raymond Madden moved to dismiss, arguing that the petition was successive—that is, that it repeated a challenge to a judgment already addressed in earlier federal petitions. Ajaelo did not file an opposition or request an extension of time by the applicable deadline.

The opinion states that Ajaelo had filed two earlier federal petitions challenging the same judgment. The court denied the first petition on its merits, and the Ninth Circuit denied a certificate of appealability and reconsideration. The court also states that a second petition was dismissed and that the Supreme Court denied a request for review. The opinion’s reproduced text does not state the complete reason for that second dismissal.

Legal standard

Under 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b)(3)(A), a person may not file a successive federal habeas petition in the district court without first obtaining authorization from the Ninth Circuit. The opinion treats this authorization requirement as jurisdictional, meaning the district court lacks authority to consider the petition without it.

Ruling

The court found that the current petition challenged the same judgment as Ajaelo’s two prior petitions and that Ajaelo had not sought or obtained the required Ninth Circuit authorization. The court therefore granted the motion to dismiss and dismissed the petition without prejudice to refiling if Ajaelo obtains authorization to file a successive petition.

The court also ruled that no certificate of appealability was warranted because it found that a reasonable jurist would not debate whether the dismissal was wrong. The clerk was directed to enter judgment and close the file.