Larson v. Stucker

── Larson v. Stucker ── Case No.: 25-1233 Court: Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Date: March 30, 2026 Category: General Appellate Case: 25-1233 Document: 21-1 Date Filed: 03/30/2026 Page: 1 FILED United States Court of Appeals UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tenth Circuit FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT March 30, 2026 _________________________________ Christopher M. Wolpert Clerk of Court KEVIN A. LARSON, Petitioner - Appellant, v. No. 25-1233 (D.C. No. 1:24-CV-01979-SKC) SHANE STUCKER; THE ATTORNEY (D. Colo.) GENERAL OF THE STATE OF COLORADO, Respondents - Appellees. _________________________________ ORDER DENYING CERTIFICATE OF APPEALABILITY * _________________________________ Before BACHARACH, McHUGH, and ROSSMAN, Circuit Judges. _________________________________ Kevin A. Larson, a Colorado prisoner, seeks a certificate of appealability (COA) under 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(A) to appeal the district court’s denial of his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition for habeas corpus relief. We deny a COA. I. Background In 2014, Mr. Larson was charged with five crimes involving sexual abuse and exploitation of a minor. He entered a plea agreement under which he would maintain his innocence pursuant to North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25, 37 (1970), while pleading * This order is not binding precedent except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited, however, for its persuasive value consistent with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th Cir. R. 32.1.  Appellate Case: 25-1233 Document: 21-1 Date Filed: 03/30/2026 Page: 2 guilty to one of the charged crimes. However, he later withdrew that plea, after the prosecution gave notice it would present evidence of aggravating circumstances which could increase the minimum term of his sentence. He was then convicted by a jury on all five charged crimes and sentenced to an indeterminate term of 36 years to life. Mr. Larson appealed and the Colorado Court of Appeals (CCA) affirmed his conviction. People v. Larson (Larson I), No. 17CA0774, 2018 WL 11714832 (Colo. App. Aug. 30, 2018) (unpublished). The Colorado Supreme Court denied certiorari. Mr. Larson then sought post-conviction relief, which the state district court denied. The CCA again affirmed. People v. Larson (Larson II), No. 22CA1105, 2023 WL 12061341, at *1 (Colo. App. Oct. 19, 2023) (unpublished). And the Colorado Supreme Court again denied certiorari. Mr. Larson then filed a § 2254 petition. The district court denied his petition and denied a COA. He now requests a COA from this court. II. Legal Standards To appeal, Mr. Larson must first obtain a COA by making “a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right.” § 2253(c)(2). This requires him to show that “reasonable jurists could debate whether (or, for that matter, agree that) [his] petition should have been resolved in a different manner or that the issues presented were adequate to deserve encouragement to proceed further.” Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 484 (2000) (internal quotation marks omitted). In addition, because the Colorado courts rejected all three of Mr. Larson’s habeas claims on their merits, our evaluation of his COA application incorporates the