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No question identified. : To the Honorable Samuel Alito, Associate Justice, and Circuit Justice for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit: 1. This is a federal habeas corpus proceeding. On February 6, 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit denied Mr. Cruz-Garcia relief from his conviction and death sentence in a published opinion. That opinion is appended to this Application. 2. This Court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1254(1). 3. At present, Mr. Cruz-Garcia has until May 7, 2025, to file a petition for a writ of certiorari seeking review of the Fifth Circuit’s decision. See SUP. CT. R. 13.1; 13.3. 4. Under Rule 13.5 and Rule 30.3, the Court may extend the time for seeking certiorari for up to sixty (60) additional days. Petitioner respectfully requests an extension of 30 days under the circumstances, up to and including June 6, 2025. 5. Counsel for the Respondent does not oppose the requested extension of time. No prejudice will result to either party if this extension is granted. 6. The issues to be presented in Mr. Cruz-Garcia’s capital case are significant, including complex and important constitutional questions. 7. Jeremy Schepers is the supervisor for the Capital Habeas Unit (CHU) of the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the Northern District of Texas. As supervisor of the CHU, Mr. Schepers both provides direct representation and supervises the work of the CHU staff, including its attorneys. Several of his cases, including capital cases in federal habeas corpus proceedings in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and end-stage proceedings, have been active in recent months and have required a significant amount of Mr. Schepers’s time. This includes a petition for a writ of 2 certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Ricks v. Guerrero that is due in this Court on April 16, 2025. Naomi Fenwick is also counsel for Mr. Ricks. 8. Consequently, additional time is needed to prepare the petition for writ of certiorari in Mr. Cruz-Garcia’s case. CONCLUSION For the foregoing reasons, the application for extension of time should be granted, extending the time to file a petition for writ of certiorari for 30 days, until June 6, 2025. Respectfully submitted, Jeremy Schepers* Supervisor, Capital Habeas Unit Naomi Fenwick Assistant Federal Public Defender Federal Public Defender’s Office Northern District of Texas 525 South Griffin Street, Ste. 629 Dallas, Texas 75202 214.767.2746 214.767.2886 (fax) Counsel for Petitioner *Counsel of record Case: 24-70003 Document: 72-1 Page:1 Date Filed: 02/06/2025 Guited States Court of Appeals for the Stith Circutt United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit FILED No. 24-70003 February 6, 2025 Lyle W. Cayce OBEL CRUZ-GARCIA, Clerk Petitioner —Appellant, versus ERIC GUERRERO, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division, Respondent —Appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas USDC No. 4:17-CV-3621 Before SMITH, SOUTHWICK, and WILSON, Circuit Judges. Cory T. WILSON, Circuit Judge: In 2013, Obel Cruz-Garcia was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death by a Texas court. His conviction and sentence were affirmed on direct appeal, and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (TCCA) rejected his initial and successive state habeas applications. The district court subsequently denied Cruz-Garcia’s federal habeas petition. Cruz-Garcia now seeks a certificate of appealability (COA) in this court under 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c). For the following reasons, we deny his motion fora COA. Case: 24-70003 Document: 72-1 Page:2 Date Filed: 02/06/2025 No. 24-70003 I. In 1992, Angelo Garcia, Jr., the six-year-old son of Arturo Rodriguez and Diana Garcia, was kidnapped and murdered. The TCCA described the events leading up to the kidnapping: On September 30, 1992, two masked intruders broke into an apartment shared by Arturo Rodriguez, Diana G