SCHRAGGER v. COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA ( 2019 )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA BENJAMIN JAY SCHRAGGER, : : Petitioner, : Civil Action No. : v. : : 17-cv-4704 COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, : et al., : : Respondents. : ORDER This ___2 _2n _d _____day of __O_c_to_b_e_r___, 2019, upon careful and independent consideration of Benjamin Jay Schragger’s petition for writ of habeas corpus (Doc. No. 1), the Commonwealth’s response in opposition (Doc. No. 30), the Petitioner’s reply (Doc. No. 332), the Report and Recommendation of U.S. Magistrate Judge Richard A. Lloret, and Petitioner's Objections, it is ORDERED that: 1. The Report and Recommendation of Magistrate Judge Richard A. Lloret is APPROVED and ADOPTED; 2. Schragger’s Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus is DENIED and DISMISSED with prejudice by separate Judgment, filed contemporaneously with this Order. See Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 58(a); Rules Governing Section 2254 Cases in the United States District Courts, Rule 12; 3. No certificate of appealability shall issue under 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(A) because “the applicant has [not] made a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right[,]” under 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2), since he has not demonstrated that “reasonable jurists” would find my “assessment of the constitutional claims debatable or wrong.” Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 484 (2000); see United States v. Cepero, 224 F.3d 256, 262-63 (3d Cir. 2000), abrogated on other grounds by Gonzalez v. Thaler, 565 U.S. 134 (2012); and, 4. The Clerk of Court shall mark this file closed. BY THE COURT: /s/ Gerald Austin McHugh HON. GERALD A. McHUGH United States District Judge