EMMET G. SULLIVAN, District Judge.
This matter is before the Court on respondent's motion to dismiss the petition for a writ of habeas corpus filed by Chester Wright. The motion will be granted.
"On October 7, 1991, District of Columbia Corrections Officer Ronald Richardson was scheduled to testify at the criminal trial of Michael Page in the Superior Court. As he prepared to leave his home to go to court that day, Richardson was shot and killed in his driveway." Wright v. United States, 979 A.2d 26, 28 (D.C. 2009). "On June 29, 1992, ... Wright [was] charged in a ten-count indictment with, inter alia, the premeditated murder of ... Ronald Richardson." United States v. Hammond, 681 A.2d 1140, 1141-42 (D.C. 1996) (footnote omitted).
Meanwhile, "[i]n January 1997, shortly after his trial ended, [Wright] filed a pro se `motion to arrest judgment,' and later he also filed a § 23-110 motion, alleging ineffective assistance of counsel."
Wright's previous efforts to obtain habeas relief in federal district court were unsuccessful. See Wright v. Stansberry, 759 F.Supp.2d 49 (D.D.C.2011), appeal dismissed, No. 11-5046, 2011 WL 2618210 (D.C.Cir. June 24, 2011) (per curiam); Wright v. Stansberry, 677 F.Supp.2d 286 (D.D.C.2010). Wright filed the instant petition on May 8, 2012.
Wright files this petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, see Pet. at 3, pursuant to which a federal district court may "entertain an application for a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of a person in custody pursuant to the judgment of a State court...." 28 U.S.C. § 2254(a). "A 1-year period of limitation shall apply to an application for a writ of habeas corpus by a person in custody pursuant of the judgment of a State court," and the limitation period runs from the latest of:
28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(1). The limitation period is tolled for "[t]he time during which a properly filed application for State post-conviction or other collateral review with respect to the pertinent judgment or claim is pending." 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(2). Because the limitation period is not jurisdictional, it "is subject to equitable tolling," Holland v. Florida, 560 U.S. 631, 130 S.Ct. 2549, 2560, 177 L.Ed.2d 130 (2010), where the petitioner demonstrates "(1) that he has been pursuing his rights diligently, and (2) that some extraordinary circumstance stood in his way and prevented timely filing." Id., 130 S.Ct. at 2562 (citation and internal quotation marks omitted).
Respondent moves to dismiss the petition on the ground that it is time-barred. See generally Resp't's Mot. at 4-8. Wright's convictions became final on June 5, 2006, the date on which the Supreme Court of the United States denied his petition for a writ of certiorari. By respondent's calculation, the one-year limitations period was tolled on two occasions before its expiration on or about March 17, 2010:
Resp't's Mot. at 7 (internal citations to the record omitted). He argues that, by filing the instant petition "more than two years after his conviction became final, [Wright's] petition is time-barred and should be dismissed." Id. at 4.
Wright responds first by arguing that § 2244(d)(1) does not apply. See Traverse in Resp. Pursuant to Gov't's Mot. to Dismiss Pet'r's Peti. for Writ of Habeas Corpus ("Pet'r's Opp'n") at 3. He is mistaken. A "conviction in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia is considered a state court conviction under federal habeas law," and a challenge to a Superior Court conviction is "properly brought under 28 U.S.C. § 2254." Smith v. United States, No. 00-5181, 2000 WL 1279276, at *1 (D.C.Cir. Aug. 23, 2000) (per curiam); Adams v. Middlebrooks, 810 F.Supp.2d 119, 122 (D.D.C.2011) (construing habeas petition "as though it were filed under § 2254, given the clear weight of authority" that a prisoner serving a sentence pursuant to Superior Court judgment must seek habeas relief under § 2254); Banks v. Smith, 377 F.Supp.2d 92, 94 (D.D.C.2005) ("The D.C. Circuit has consistently held that when considering a writ of habeas corpus a prisoner of the District of Columbia is considered a State prisoner, when the prisoner is held under a conviction of the D.C. Superior Court."); cf. Madley v.
Next Wright argues that, because the "issue is the same as the first [§] 2254 motion that was filed on December 29, 2009," the instant petition "[t]herefore is not barred." Pet'r's Opp'n at 2. Presumably Wright is referring to Wright v. Stansberry, No. 09-2433 (D.D.C. filed Dec. 29, 2009), and arguing that the instant petition "relates back" and that its filing before the expiration of the limitations period on March 17, 2010 is timely. He offers no legal authority to support this argument, however. Furthermore, review of the earlier petition reflects that the issues raised previously pertained only to the alleged ineffective assistance of trial counsel and other trial errors — matters which actually were, or could have been, raised on direct appeal to the Court of Appeals or in a § 23-110 motion in the Superior Court. His current claim — ineffective assistance of appellate counsel — is nowhere mentioned in the earlier petition.
Finally, Wright contends that "under the circumstances equitable tolling does apply" because he "clearly have [sic] diligently pursued his rights and [his] filing [is] not late as the Government claims." Pet'r's Opp'n at 3. Review of Wright's post-conviction litigation history reflects diligence on his part, yet he fails to demonstrate the existence of extraordinary circumstances which would have prevented a timely filing of the instant petition.
Petitioner's motion was not timely filed and, therefore, respondent's motion to dismiss will be granted. See Hatch v. Jett, 847 F.Supp.2d 88, 95 (D.D.C.2012) (dismissing § 2254 petition filed approximately 18 months after limitations period expired, "[e]ven accounting for the periods during which the limitations period was tolled").
An Order accompanies this Memorandum Opinion.