Here is the opinion in the long-running case Reber v. Steele. An excerpt:

Petitioner Colton Reber, a descendant of the Uintah Band Indians, was convicted in Utah state juvenile court of felony wanton destruction of wildlife, in violation of Utah Code § 23-20-4. Having exhausted his remedies through the state courts, Mr. Reber filed the present 28 U.S.C. § 2254 action in the United States District Court for the District of Utah. Mr. Reber’s § 2254 petition contends that because he is an Indian, and because the offense occurred on Indian land, the Indian tribe-not the State of Utah-is the victim of the offense. Thus, neither the Eighth District Juvenile Court, nor the State of Utah, possessed jurisdiction over the offense. The federal district court dismissed Mr. Reber’s habeas petition because “it plainly appear [ed] from the petition and any attached exhibits that the petitioner [wa]s not entitled to relief.” Aplt’s App. at 60.

We granted Mr. Reber a certificate of appealability on August 18, 2008, concluding that he had made the requisite “substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right,” as required by 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2). Upon further review, however, we find that the premature filing of Mr. Reber’s § 2254petition deprived the district court of jurisdiction, and thus precludes our review. Accordingly, we vacate the district court’s ruling on the merits of the petition, and remand to the district court with instructions to dismiss the petition without prejudice.