Filed: Oct. 24, 2019
Latest Update: Oct. 24, 2019
Summary: ORDER ACCEPTING FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATION OF THE UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE AS MODIFIED HEREIN REED O'CONNOR , District Judge . The United States Magistrate Judge has entered his Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendation. ECF No. 18. Petitioner did not file objections to the Recommendation. The Magistrate Judge recommends that this habeas action be dismissed with prejudice as time-barred. The District Court reviewed the Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendation for plai
Summary: ORDER ACCEPTING FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATION OF THE UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE AS MODIFIED HEREIN REED O'CONNOR , District Judge . The United States Magistrate Judge has entered his Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendation. ECF No. 18. Petitioner did not file objections to the Recommendation. The Magistrate Judge recommends that this habeas action be dismissed with prejudice as time-barred. The District Court reviewed the Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendation for plain..
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ORDER ACCEPTING FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATION OF THE UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE AS MODIFIED HEREIN
REED O'CONNOR, District Judge.
The United States Magistrate Judge has entered his Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendation. ECF No. 18. Petitioner did not file objections to the Recommendation. The Magistrate Judge recommends that this habeas action be dismissed with prejudice as time-barred. The District Court reviewed the Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendation for plain error. Finding no error in the recommendation for disposition, I am of the opinion that the conclusions of law and reasons for dismissal set forth in the Magistrate Judge's Recommendation are correct and they are hereby adopted and incorporated by reference as the Findings of the Court with the following modifications:
After his conviction for assault on a family member was affirmed on direct appeal, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted Jesus Reynaldo Gonzales' motion for extension of time in which to file a Petition for Discretionary Review ("PDR"). The deadline for filing the PDR was May 26, 2017. See ECF No. 16-16. Although Gonzalez did not file a PDR, his conviction became final on that date. See 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(1)(A) (state court conviction becomes final by the conclusion of direct review or the expiration of the time for seeking such review); Webb v. Thaler, 384 F. App'x 349, 350 (2010) (state court's grant of criminal defendant's request for leave to file an out-of-time PDR rendered his state court judgment of conviction not yet final); see also Jimenez v. Quarterman, 129 S.Ct. 681, 686 (2009) (when "a state court grants a criminal defendant the right to file an out-of-time direct appeal . . . his judgment is not yet final for purposes of" the one-year limitation period). Therefore, Gonzales' one-year limitation period ran through May 28, 2018.1
Gonzales filed a state application for habeas relief on May 14, 2018.2 See Ex parte Gonzales, App. No. WR-88,652-01, ECF Nos. 16-19, 16-20, 16-21. The application was denied without written order on July 18, 2018. See ECF No. 16-18. Because his state application was pending for 66 days, Gonzales is entitled to 66 days of statutory tolling. See 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(2) (the one-year federal statute of limitations is tolled while a properly-filed state habeas application is pending); Windland v. Quarterman, 578 F.3d 314, 315 (5th Cir. 2009) ("[A] state habeas petition is `pending' for the purposes of tolling under § 2244(d)(2) on the day it is filed through (and including) the day it is decided."). Adding 66 days to Gonzales' original federal filing deadline of May 28, 2018 provides a new filing deadline of August 2, 2018. The instant petition was filed on September 21, 2018, after the one-year statute of limitations had expired.3
For the foregoing reasons, this action is DISMISSED with prejudice as TIME-BARRED.
SO ORDERED.