Arroyo v. District Attorney, Queens County
- Laura Swain
- 1:24-cv-00780
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Arroyo v. District Attorney, Queens County, Judge Swain transferred the conviction challenge to the Eastern District of New York and denied appeal-related requests.
Anibal Arroyo's federal challenge to his Queens County conviction was transferred from the Southern District of New York to the Eastern District of New York; the order also affected his ability to appeal without a filing fee and to obtain a certificate of appealability.
What happened
In Arroyo v. District Attorney, Queens County, Anibal Arroyo, who is incarcerated and proceeding without a lawyer, challenged his 2019 Queens County conviction in a federal petition under a law allowing challenges to state convictions.
Because the conviction and sentence occurred in Queens County, the court transferred the case to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. The order closed the case in the Southern District of New York.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ruled that a certificate allowing an appeal would not issue because Arroyo had not made the required showing of a constitutional violation. She also denied permission to appeal without paying the filing fees, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Arroyo v. District Attorney, Queens County · No. 1:24-cv-00780
- Laura Swain
- Feb. 14, 2024
Background
Anibal Arroyo, who is incarcerated at Shawangunk Correctional Facility, filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, the federal procedure for challenging the constitutionality of a state-court conviction. He challenged his November 8, 2019 conviction in the New York Supreme Court, Queens County. The opinion states that he was proceeding without a lawyer and had paid the $5 filing fee.
Transfer
The court transferred the action under Local Rule 83.3 because Queens County, where Arroyo was convicted and sentenced, is located in the Eastern District of New York. The clerk was directed to transfer the action to that court, and the order closed the case in the Southern District of New York.
Appeal-related rulings
The court stated that Arroyo had not made a substantial showing that a constitutional right had been denied. It therefore ruled that a certificate of appealability would not issue. The court also certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying the filing fees. The order did not decide whether Arroyo's conviction was constitutional.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.