Leslie Canty, Jr. v. Commonwealth of Virginia

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
LESLIE CANTY, JR.,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
No. 99-7059
COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA,
Defendant-Appellee,
CITY OF PORTSMOUTH,
Movant-Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Norfolk.
Jerome B. Friedman, District Judge.
(CA-99-388-2)
Submitted: January 27, 2000
Decided: February 11, 2000
Before WILKINS, LUTTIG, and MOTZ, Circuit Judges.
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Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
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COUNSEL
Leslie Canty, Jr., Appellant Pro Se. Linwood Theodore Wells, Jr.,
Assistant Attorney General, Richmond, Virginia; Samuel Lawrence
Dumville, Virginia Beach, Virginia, for Appellees.
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Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See
Local Rule 36(c).
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OPINION
PER CURIAM:
Leslie Canty, Jr., appeals the district court's order dismissing his
complaint challenging his speeding conviction. In his complaint,
Canty raised a number of constitutional claims to his conviction and
asked that the district court reverse the conviction and order another
trial. Canty insisted, however, that he was not bringing a challenge to
his conviction under 28 U.S.C.A. § 2254 (West 1994 & Supp. 1999),
and stated several times that he was never in custody on this charge.
Lower federal courts generally lack jurisdiction to review chal-
lenges to state court decisions, even if there is an allegation that the
state court's action was unconstitutional. See District of Columbia
Court of Appeals v. Feldman, 460 U.S. 462, 476-79 (1983); Rooker
v. Fidelity Trust Co., 263 U.S. 413, 415-16 (1923). A statutory excep-
tion to this rule is provided by the habeas corpus statutes. See Plyler
v. Moore, 129 F.3d 728, 732 (4th Cir. 1997). However, because Canty
emphatically stated that he was not seeking habeas relief and repre-
sented that he was never in custody for the offense, the habeas excep-
tion has no applicability to this case. See 28 U.S.C. § 2254(a) (1994);
Carafas v. LaVallee, 391 U.S. 234, 238 (1968).
We therefore dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction. We dis-
pense 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.
DISMISSED
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