Case Explained: Summary Calendar Brandon Earl Crocker Petitioner— v. Eric Guerrero, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice Correctional Institutions Division Respondent—

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Filed: 2026-07-23 The fifth-circuit dismissed the appeal due to a lack of jurisdiction, holding that it could not review the district court’s dismissal of the petitioner’s habeas corpus application because he failed to file a timely notice of appeal from that underlying judgment. The court further ruled that while the petitioner timely appealed the denial of his motion for relief from judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b), the certificate of appealability (COA) issued by the district court was defective as a procedural-only COA. Applying the standard set forth in *Slack v. McDaniel* and Fifth Circuit precedent, the court declined to issue a valid COA because the petitioner could not satisfy the statutory requirements necessary to demonstrate that reasonable jurists would find the district court’s denial of his Rule 60(b) motion debatable or wrong. Consequently, the court vacated the defective COA, dismissed the appeal, and denied the petitioner’s motion for the appointment of counsel. Do It For The Case Law is a news reporting service. Nothing in this episode constitutes legal advice.