Esguerra v. Cronin
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:21-cv-00435
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Esguerra v. Cronin, Judge McMahon transferred the habeas case and refused a certificate of appealability and fee-free appeal status.
Wilson Esguerra's federal challenge to his 2018 Queens County conviction was transferred to the Eastern District of New York; the Southern District of New York did not decide the challenge's merits.
What happened
In Esguerra v. Cronin, Wilson Esguerra, who was incarcerated at Groveland Correctional Facility, filed a petition without a lawyer challenging the constitutionality of his 2018 conviction in Queens County, New York.
Because the conviction and sentence occurred in Queens County, Judge McMahon transferred the case from the Southern District of New York to the Eastern District of New York. The order did not decide whether the conviction was constitutional, and the transferee court was left to decide whether Esguerra could proceed without paying fees.
Judge Colleen McMahon closed the case in the Southern District of New York, declined to issue a certificate of appealability because Esguerra had not made the required substantial showing of a constitutional-rights violation, and denied fee-free status for any appeal because an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Esguerra v. Cronin · No. 1:21-cv-00435
- Colleen McMahon
- Jan. 20, 2021
Background
Wilson Esguerra filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, a federal procedure for challenging a state-court conviction. The opinion says he was incarcerated at Groveland Correctional Facility, proceeded without a lawyer, and challenged the constitutionality of his 2018 conviction in the New York Supreme Court, Queens County.
Transfer
The Southern District of New York transferred the action under Local Rule 83.3 because Queens County is located in the Eastern District of New York, and Esguerra was convicted and sentenced there. The order directed the Clerk of Court to transfer the action to the Eastern District of New York and to mail Esguerra a copy of the order. It stated that the transferee court would decide whether Esguerra could proceed without paying fees. The order closed the case in the Southern District of New York.
Appeal-related rulings and disposition
The court did not reach the merits of Esguerra's constitutional challenge. Judge Colleen McMahon stated that Esguerra had not made a substantial showing that a constitutional right was denied, so a certificate of appealability would not issue under 28 U.S.C. § 2253. The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for purposes of an appeal. The action was transferred to the Eastern District of New York and closed in the Southern District of New York.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.