Lunsford v. Green

── Lunsford v. Green ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Date: June 03, 2026 Category: General Appellate Case: 26-6037 Document: 21 Date Filed: 06/03/2026 Page: 1 FILED United States Court of Appeals UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tenth Circuit FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT June 3, 2026 _________________________________ Christopher M. Wolpert Clerk of Court CODY REID LUNSFORD, Petitioner - Appellant, v. No. 26-6037 (D.C. No. 5:25-CV-00276-D) MARGARET GREEN, Warden, (W.D. Okla.) Respondent - Appellee. _________________________________ ORDER DENYING CERTIFICATE OF APPEALABILITY * _________________________________ Before HARTZ, MATHESON, and ROSSMAN, Circuit Judges. _________________________________ Cody Reid Lunsford, an Oklahoma state prisoner, seeks a certificate of appealability (“COA”) to challenge the district court’s denial of his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 application for a writ of habeas corpus as time-barred. See 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(A) (requiring a COA to appeal “the final order in a habeas corpus proceeding in which the detention complained of arises out of process issued by a State court”). Exercising jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1291 and 2253(a), we deny his request and dismiss this matter. * This order is not binding precedent except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel.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: 26-6037 Document: 21 Date Filed: 06/03/2026 Page: 2 I. BACKGROUND A. Procedural History State Proceedings Mr. Lunsford was charged with child abuse by injury in violation of Okla. Stat. tit. 21, § 843.5(A). The prosecution presented the following evidence. On February 27, 2015, Mr. Lunsford brought M.V., 1 a four-month-old infant, to St. Anthony’s Emergency Room in Shawnee, Oklahoma. M.V. presented with hypothermia, facial and ear bruising, and petechiae. A CT scan revealed bilateral retinal hemorrhaging, retinoschisis, a subdural hematoma, and a possible skull fracture. M.V. was transferred to Oklahoma University Children’s Hospital (“OU”), where a child abuse specialist diagnosed her with an abusive head trauma. Mr. Lunsford was alone with M.V. when she sustained these injuries. He told investigators M.V. fell off the bed, but several witnesses testified his explanation was inconsistent with M.V.’s injuries. 2 A jury in the Pottawatomie County District Court convicted Mr. Lunsford. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeal (“OCCA”) affirmed the conviction on direct appeal. Mr. Lunsford sought post-conviction relief in state court. He introduced responses to written deposition questions from Dr. Lori Crow, who treated M.V. a week before the 1 We refer to the minor victim in this case as M.V. to maintain anonymity. We discuss additional trial evidence below in addressing Mr. Lunsford’s actual 2 innocence claim. 2  Appellate Case: 26-6037 Document: 21 Date Filed: 06/03/2026 Page: 3 incident; Dr. Kathryn Cook, one of M.V’s treating physicians at OU; and Dr. James Glenn, M.V.’s radiologist at St. Anthony. He