Filed: Jul. 31, 2002
Latest Update: Feb. 21, 2020
Summary: IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT No. 01-60587 Summary Calendar KELVIN CROWELL, Petitioner-Appellant, versus STATE OF MISSISSIPPI; ROBERT L. JOHNSON, COMMISSIONER, MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, Respondents-Appellees. - Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi USDC No. 4:01-CV-48-LN - July 30, 2002 Before REAVLEY, SMITH and STEWART, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:* Kelvin Crowell, Mississippi prisoner # T2165, appeals the
Summary: IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT No. 01-60587 Summary Calendar KELVIN CROWELL, Petitioner-Appellant, versus STATE OF MISSISSIPPI; ROBERT L. JOHNSON, COMMISSIONER, MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, Respondents-Appellees. - Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi USDC No. 4:01-CV-48-LN - July 30, 2002 Before REAVLEY, SMITH and STEWART, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:* Kelvin Crowell, Mississippi prisoner # T2165, appeals the ..
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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
No. 01-60587
Summary Calendar
KELVIN CROWELL,
Petitioner-Appellant,
versus
STATE OF MISSISSIPPI; ROBERT L. JOHNSON,
COMMISSIONER, MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS,
Respondents-Appellees.
--------------------
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Mississippi
USDC No. 4:01-CV-48-LN
--------------------
July 30, 2002
Before REAVLEY, SMITH and STEWART, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
Kelvin Crowell, Mississippi prisoner # T2165, appeals the
district court’s dismissal of his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition as
time barred, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d). A certificate of
appealability (COA) was granted on two issues, whether the
district court was correct (1) in determining that the state
court judgment revoking Crowell’s probation and imposing sentence
became final under 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(1) on the date it was
*
Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined
that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent
except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR.
R. 47.5.4.
No. 01-60587
-2-
issued and (2) in determining that tolling ceased under 28 U.S.C.
§ 2244(d)(2) when the state appellate court rendered its decision
as to Crowell’s state postconviction application.
Crowell asserts that the probation-revocation judgment did
not become final under § 2244(d)(1)(A) until November 28, 2000,
the date the Mississippi Court of Appeals affirmed the denial of
postconviction relief, or until the expiration of the 30 days to
seek review of that decision under MISS. R. APP. P. 4(a). Under
28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(1), the one-year limitations period for
filing a federal habeas petition begins to run from “the date on
which the judgment became final by the conclusion of direct
review or the expiration of the time for seeking such review.”
28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(1)(A). Mississippi law does not provide for
direct review of an order revoking probation and suspension of
sentence; it provides only for collateral review of such a
judgment. Beasley v. State,
795 So. 2d 539, 540 (Miss. 2001);
MISS. CODE ANN. §§ 99-39-1 et seq. Thus, the district court did
not err in determining that the probation-revocation judgment was
“final” for purposes of 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(1) on the date it is
imposed because there is no provision for direct review of that
judgment.
Crowell argues that pursuant to § 2244(d)(2), the
limitations period should have been tolled while his state
postconviction application was pending, including the entire
period allotted for timely state appellate review of the
No. 01-60587
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disposition of that application. The district court held that
the limitations period was tolled while Crowell’s state
postconviction application was pending, from its filing on August
18, 1999, through the appellate court’s affirmance of the trial
court’s denial on November 28, 2000. There is no indication in
the record that Crowell sought further review of the Court of
Appeals’ decision affirming the denial of his state
postconviction application.
Crowell did not assert in the district court that the
limitations period should have been tolled during the time he
could have sought (but did not seek) further review of the
appellate court’s decision until the time for seeking such review
expired. Accordingly, this issue is reviewed under the plain
error standard. See Douglass v. United Serv. Auto Ass’n,
79 F.3d
1415, 1428-29 (5th Cir. 1996)(en banc).
Although this court has stated in dicta that a state
postconviction application is no longer pending when the state
limitations period for seeking further review has expired, see
Melancon v. Kaylo,
259 F.3d 401, 407 (5th Cir. 2001), this court
has not so held. See Williams v. Cain,
217 F.3d 303, 311 n.9
(5th Cir. 2000) (declining to address the issue). Accordingly,
the district court did not commit plain error by not tolling the
limitations period during any time Crowell could have filed for
further review (but did not).
No. 01-60587
-4-
Moreover, even if the period during which Crowell could have
sought further appellate review is considered, we would still
find his federal petition untimely. Crowell argues that he had
30 days to seek review of the decision of the Mississippi Court
of Appeals under MISS. R. APP. P. 4(a). This rule is inapplicable
since it applies to appeals from the trial court to the
Mississippi Supreme Court. Under MISS. R. APP. P. 17(b), review
in the Mississippi Supreme Court of a decision of the Court of
Appeals requires a party to first file a motion of rehearing in
the Court of Appeals, and under MISS. R. APP. P. 40(a), the party
has only 14 days to file such a motion. By our reckoning,
Crowell’s federal suit was untimely even if an additional 14 days
are added to the tolled period.
Crowell also argues that the principle of comity requires
that his § 2254 petition be considered timely and that the
district court violated his due process rights by dismissing his
application as time-barred. Although Crowell raised these issues
in his COA motion, because a COA was not granted on these issues,
they will not be addressed. See Lackey v. Johnson,
116 F.3d 149,
151 (5th Cir. 1997).
AFFIRMED.