UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN SOUTHERN DIVISION

DARIUS WATSON,

Petitioner, Case No. 24-13218 Hon. Jonathan J.C. Grey v.

ERIC RARDIN,

Respondent. /

OPINION AND ORDER DISMISSING PETITION WITHOUT PREJUDICE, DENYING CERTIFICATE OF APPEALABILITY, AND DENYING LEAVE TO APPEAL IN FORMA PAUPERIS

Petitioner Darius Watson is currently incarcerated in Milan, Michigan. He filed a pro se petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to

. (ECF No. 1.) He did not pay the required $5.00 filing fee, nor did he apply to proceed in forma pauperis when he filed the case. See

(a), 1915. Chief Magistrate Judge David R. Grand issued a deficiency order requiring Watson to either pay the filing fee or submit an in forma pauperis application. (ECF No. 3.) The order provided that if he did not do by January 6, 2025, the case would be dismissed. (Id.) The time for submitting the filing fee or required information to proceed in forma pauperis has elapsed, and Watson has not corrected the

filing deficiency. The Court, therefore, dismisses the habeas petition without prejudice. The Court makes no determination as to its merits. Before Watson may appeal this ruling, a certificate of appealability

(“COA”) must issue. See

(c)(1)(a). A COA may issue only if the petitioner makes “a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right.”

(c)(2). When a court denies relief

on procedural grounds, a COA should issue if the petitioner shows that jurists of reason would find it debatable whether the petitioner states a valid claim of the denial of a constitutional right and that jurists of reason

would find it debatable whether the court’s procedural ruling is correct. Slack v. McDaniel,

(2000). Reasonable jurists would not debate the correctness of the Court’s procedural ruling, so the Court

denies a COA. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that the petition for a writ of habeas corpus (ECF No. 1) is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a certificate of appealability is DENIED. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Watson is not authorized to file an appeal in forma pauperis because an appeal would not be taken

in good faith.

(a)(3). SO ORDERED. s/Jonathan J.C. Grey Jonathan J.C. Grey Dated: June 16, 2025 United States District Judge Certificate of Service

The undersigned certifies that the foregoing document was served upon counsel of record and any unrepresented parties via the Court’s ECF System to their respective email or First-Class U.S. mail addresses disclosed on the Notice of Electronic Filing on June 16, 2025.

s/ S. Osorio Sandra Osorio Case Manager