Juan Rodriguez v. Anthony Padula

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 12-6392
JUAN RODRIGUEZ,
Petitioner - Appellant,
v.
ANTHONY PADULA, Warden Lee Correctional Institution,
Respondent - Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
South Carolina, at Rock Hill. R. Bryan Harwell, District Judge.
(0:11-cv-01297-RBH)
Submitted: September 11, 2012 Decided: September 28, 2012
Before SHEDD, KEENAN, and WYNN, Circuit Judges.
Vacated and remanded by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Jeremy A. Thompson, LAW OFFICE OF JEREMY A. THOMPSON, LLC,
Columbia, South Carolina, for Appellant. Melody Jane Brown,
Assistant Attorney General, Donald John Zelenka, Deputy
Assistant Attorney General, Columbia, South Carolina, for
Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Juan Rodriguez seeks to appeal the district court’s
order adopting in part the magistrate judge’s recommendation and
denying relief on his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (2006) petition.
The district court ruled that Rodriguez’s claim under
Roe v. Flores-Ortega, 528 U.S. 470 (2000), was procedurally
barred from federal habeas review and that “[a]ny alleged error
by PCR counsel [was] insufficient to serve as cause to excuse
[the] default as Petitioner does not have a constitutional right
to PCR counsel.” We grant a certificate of appealability on the
issue of whether the district court erred in its procedural
default rulings, vacate the rulings, and remand to the district
court for reconsideration in light of Martinez v. Ryan, 132 S.
Ct. 1309 (2012). We grant leave to proceed in forma pauperis.
We dispense with oral argument because the facts and
legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials
before the court and argument would not aid the decisional
process.
VACATED AND REMANDED
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