Antoine v. Warden

Background

Amanze Antoine filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, a procedure for asking a federal court to review a person's custody. The respondent moved to dismiss the petition as time-barred, meaning the respondent argued that it was filed after the applicable deadline. Antoine was proceeding without a lawyer.

Report and Recommendation

Magistrate Judge Andrew E. Krause issued a Report and Recommendation on July 6, 2021, recommending that the motion to dismiss be granted. The district court stated that objections were due July 23, 2021. After receiving no objections, the court extended the deadline to August 23, 2021, and warned that Antoine would not receive another opportunity to object. The court stated that it still received no objections.

Court’s Analysis

Because Antoine did not object, the court reviewed the Report and Recommendation for clear error. The court found no error and agreed with the magistrate judge’s recommendation. The opinion does not independently provide the underlying factual and procedural background, stating that the parties’ familiarity with that background was presumed.

Ruling

Judge Vincent L. Briccetti adopted the Report and Recommendation in its entirety as the court’s opinion. The court granted the respondent’s motion to dismiss and dismissed the petition. The Clerk was directed to enter judgment, terminate the motion, and close the case.

The court also determined that Antoine had not made a substantial showing that a constitutional right was denied, so it did not issue a certificate of appealability. It further certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees.