Guevara v. Davis
Guevara v. Davis
Opinion of the Court
Gilmar Alexander Guevara requests that this court grant a certifícate of appealability (COA) to review the district court’s denial of his Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(6) motion for relief from judgment. Because no reasonable jurist could conclude that the district court abused its discretion in denying the motion, we deny the application for a COA.
I
Guevara was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in Texas state court in 2001. After unsuccessfully appealing,
Guevara filed a federal habeas petition in 2008, again raising an Atkins claim. The district court construed the TCCA’s dismissal of Guevara’s Atkins claim as a ruling on the merits, allowing consideration of the claim on federal habeas.
Guevara, moved for a COA in this court.
Fourteen months later, Guevara filed a Rule 60(b)(6) motion in the district court to reopen and reverse the prior ruling. The district court denied the motion and declined to issue a COA.
II
Guevara asks that this court issue a COA to review the district court’s denial of Rule 60(b)(6) relief. Rule 60(b)(6) permits a court to relieve a party from a final judgment for “any ... reason that justifies relief.”
We lack authority to entertain an appeal of an adverse final order in a habeas case unless a circuit justice or judge certifies the appeal by issuing a COA,
a COA should issue when the prisoner shows, at least, that jurists of reason would find it debatable whether the petition states a valid claim of the denial of a constitutional right and that jurists of reason would find it debatable whether the district court was correct in its procedural ruling.21
On Guevara’s motion for a COA, “we must determine whether a jurist of reason could conclude that the district court’s denial of [the] motion was an abuse of discre
Because Guevara has been sentenced to death, “any doubts as to whether a COA should issue must be resolved in [his] favor."
llí
The core of Guevara’s claim is that the district court, when deciding Guevara’s original habeas petition, did not use the correct evidentiary standard in evaluating whether Guevara had made a prima facie case of intellectual disability, Guevara acknowledges that the district court identified the appropriate controlling precedent, but argues that, although the district court “gestur[ed] superficially towards the prima facie standard,” the court “required him to prove [intellectual disability]—and allowed evidentiary inferences to be drawn against him.”
Guevara advanced similar arguments in his prior appeal to this court, arguing that the district court, in determining that he had not made the requisite showing, improperly “conducted a deep dive, weighed the evidence, and resolved many questions of fact against Mr. Guevara.” We disagreed, stating “Guevara did not make a prima facie case for an intellectual disability.”
Guevara’s Rule 60(b)(6) motion pressed the same argument. Guevara argued that a recent Supreme Court decision, Brumfield v. Cain,
In Brumfield, the Supreme Court held that a Louisiana state habeas court had improperly denied an inmate an Atkins hearing, such that the court’s disposition was “based on an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence presented” and thus not entitled to deference under 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(2).
Guevara acknowledges that Brumfield does not require that all states use the “reasonable doubt” standard Louisiana used. He instead states that “[u]nder Brumfield, a federal court is supposed to evaluate the reasonableness of the state screening determination by reference to the state screening standard.” Guevara simply argues the Brumfield decision “af
The district court found both that Guevara did not make a prima facie ease of intellectual disability
Even if Brumfield were a change in decisional law that benefited Guevara, “ ‘[a] change in decisional law after entry of judgment does not constitute exceptional circumstances and is not alone grounds for relief from a final judgment’ under Rule 60(b)(6).”
Guevara presents no reason to change our assessment of these additional factors. We have already considered the strength of his underlying Atkins claim, concluding that he did not make a prima facie case.
⅜ ⅜ *
For the foregoing reasons, the motion for a COA is DENIED.
Pursuant to 5th Cir. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5th Cir. R. 47.5.4.
. See Guevara v. State, 97 S.W.3d 579, 584 (Tex. Crim. App. 2003).
. 536 U.S. 304, 321, 122 S.Ct. 2242, 153 L.Ed.2d 335 (2002).
. Ex parte Guevara, Nos. WR-63,926-01, WR-63,926-02, 2007 WL 1493152 (Tex. Crim. App. May 23, 2007) (per curiam).
. Guevara v. Thaler, No. 08-1604, slip op. at 9 (S.D. Tex. Sept. 25, 2014); see Rocha v. Thaler, 619 F.3d 387, 400 (5th Cir. 2010) ("A federal court is precluded from considering a state prisoner’s habeas petition if the underlying state decision rests on an adequate and independent state ground, such as a state procedural bar.”).
. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(2).
. Guevara, No. 08-1604, slip op. at 9-10 (citing Blue v. Thaler, 665 F.3d 647, 657 (5th Cir. 2011)).
. Id. at 11-21.
. Id. at 11.
. Id. at 21 (quoting 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(2)).
. Id. at 4; Ex parte Blue, 230 S.W.3d 151, 163 (Tex. Crim. App. 2007) (citing Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 11.071 § 5(a)(3)).
. ROA. 1321.
. Guevara v. Stephens, 577 Fed.Appx. 364, 365-66, 373 (5th Cir. 2014) (per curiam), cert. denied, — U.S. —, 135 S.Ct. 1892, 191 L.Ed.2d 767 (2015).
. Id. at 373.
. Id.
. Guevara v. Stephens, No. H-08-1604, 2016 WL 305220 (S.D. Tex. Jan. 26, 2016).
. Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b)(6).
. Rocha v. Thaler, 619 F.3d 387, 400 (5th Cir. 2010) (quoting Williams v. Thaler, 602 F.3d 291, 311 (5th Cir. 2010)).
. Hernandez v. Thaler, 630 F.3d 420, 428 (5th Cir. 2011) (per curiam) (internal quotation marks omitted) (alteration in original) (quoting Rocha, 619 F.3d at 400).
. 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1).
. Id. § 2253(c)(2).
. Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 484, 120 S.Ct. 1595, 146 L.Ed.2d 542 (2000).
. Hernandez, 630 F.3d at 428.
. Foster v. Quarterman, 466 F.3d 359, 364 (5th Cir. 2006) (alteration in original) (citing Hernandez v. Johnson, 213 F.3d 243, 248 (5th Cir. 2000)).
. Guevara v. Stephens, 577 Fed.Appx. 364, 373 (5th Cir. 2014) (per curiam), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 135 S.Ct. 1892, 191 L.Ed.2d 767 (2015).
. Id.
. — U.S. -, 135 S.Ct. 2269, 192 L.Ed.2d 356 (2015).
. Id. at 2273, 2276 (internal quotation marks omitted) (quoting 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(2)).
. 831 So. 2d 835 (La. 2002).
. Brumfield, 135 S.Ct. at 2281-82.
. Guevara v. Thaler, No. 18-1604, slip op. at 9-21 (S.D. Tex. Sept. 25, 2014).
. Id. at 23.
. Guevara v. Stephens, 577 Fed.Appx. 364, 373 (5th Cir. 2014) (per curiam), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 135 S.Ct. 1892, 191 L.Ed.2d 767 (2015).
. Hernandez v. Thaler, 630 F.3d 420, 430 (5th Cir. 2011) (per curiam) (alteration in original) (quoting Bailey v. Ryan Stevedoring Co., 894 F.2d 157, 160 (5th Cir. 1990)).
. Batts v. Tow-Motor Forklift Co., 66 F.3d 743, 749 (5th Cir. 1995).
. Guevara, 577 Fed.Appx. at 373 ("In state habeas proceedings he presented no full-scale results from an accepted IQ test. He presented a full-scale IQ score of 77 on one test, the TONI-2, which Texas courts do not find to be a valid measure of intellect. On various sections of various other IQ tests, his scores ranged from 60 to 91. He presented no evidence at all that any intellectual disability he had appeared before the age of 18. His expert’s evidence conflicted with much of the other evidence presented about Guevara’s intellectual abilities, such as his ability to excel at various jobs and learn new skills.” (citation omitted)).
. Foster v. Quarterman, 466 F.3d 359, 364 (5th Cir. 2006) (alteration in original) (citing Hernandez v. Johnson, 213 F.3d 243, 248 (5th Cir. 2000)).
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