United States v. Eugenio Rodriguez ( 2019 )


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  •      Case: 17-20696      Document: 00514791682         Page: 1    Date Filed: 01/11/2019
    IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
    United States Court of Appeals
    No. 17-20696
    Fifth Circuit
    FILED
    January 11, 2019
    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,                                              Lyle W. Cayce
    Clerk
    Plaintiff-Appellee
    v.
    EUGENIO LOPEZ RODRIGUEZ,
    Defendant-Appellant
    Appeal from the United States District Court
    for the Southern District of Texas
    USDC No. 4:17-CV-2997
    USDC No. 4:95-CR-62-1
    Before JONES, ELROD, and ENGELHARDT, Circuit Judges.
    PER CURIAM: *
    Eugenio Lopez Rodriguez (Rodriguez), Texas prisoner # 382692, is
    serving a sentence of life imprisonment imposed in 1983 on his Texas murder
    conviction. In 1995, he was convicted in the Southern District of Texas on two
    counts of mailing threatening letters to federal judges and sentenced to
    concurrent 60-month terms of imprisonment, to run consecutively to his
    sentence on the murder conviction.              In 2017, Rodriguez filed a motion
    * 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 R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not
    be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH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.
    Case: 17-20696     Document: 00514791682      Page: 2   Date Filed: 01/11/2019
    No. 17-20696
    requesting relief from a federal detainer that, he alleges, is interfering with his
    ability to obtain parole on the murder conviction. The district court concluded
    that the detainer has not affected Rodriguez’s parole and denied the motion.
    Rodriguez now appeals.
    We agree with Rodriguez that his motion is best construed as a 28 U.S.C.
    § 2241 petition challenging the execution of his federal sentences. See Reyes-
    Requena v. United States, 
    243 F.3d 893
    , 900-01 (5th Cir. 2001); Pack v. Yusuff,
    
    218 F.3d 448
    , 451 (5th Cir. 2000). His motion for a certificate of appealability
    (COA) is therefore denied as unnecessary. See Stringer v. Williams, 
    161 F.3d 259
    , 262 (5th Cir. 1998); 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(A)-(B). Because this appeal
    may be resolved on the available record, we dispense with further briefing.
    The district court’s denial of Rodriguez’s § 2241 petition on the pleadings
    is reviewed de novo, and we may affirm on any basis supported by the record.
    Hunter v. Tamez, 
    622 F.3d 427
    , 430 (5th Cir. 2010). Rodriguez has not alleged
    that the federal detainer was lodged with Texas authorities in violation of the
    Constitution or federal law. See § 2241(c)(3); Fillingham v. United States,
    
    867 F.3d 531
    , 536 (5th Cir. 2017), cert. denied, 
    138 S. Ct. 1035
    (2018).
    Accordingly, we conclude that Rodriguez is unable to demonstrate, in this
    proceeding, his entitlement to any of the relief he requests to alleviate the
    effect allegedly given to the detainer by state officials. See United States v.
    Dovalina, 
    711 F.2d 737
    , 739-40 (5th Cir. 1983).
    COA DENIED AS UNNECESSARY; AFFIRMED.
    2