GREGORY A. PRESNELL, District Judge.
Petitioner filed an amended petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (Doc. 4). Respondents filed a response to the amended petition in compliance with this Court's instructions (Doc. 7). Petitioner filed a reply and supplemental reply to the response (Doc. Nos. 13, 15).
Petitioner asserts nine grounds for relief. For the following reasons, the Court concludes the petition is untimely and must be dismissed.
Petitioner was charged by second amended information with two counts of attempted first degree murder (counts one and two) and aggravated battery with a firearm (count three). (Doc. 8-1 at 21). A jury found Petitioner guilty of the lesser-included offense of aggravated assault as to counts one and two and guilty as charged of count three with special findings that Petitioner used and discharged a firearm during the commission of the offenses resulting in great bodily injury as to all counts. (Doc. 8-3 at 55-66). The state court sentenced Petitioner to twenty-five year terms of imprisonment for all counts with the sentences for counts one and three to run concurrently and the sentence for count two to run consecutively to the sentences for counts one and three. (Doc. 8-4 at 17-23). Petitioner appealed, and the Fifth District Court of Appeal of Florida ("Fifth DCA") affirmed per curiam on April 15, 2008. (Doc. 8-12 at 23).
On January 12, 2010, Petitioner, through counsel, filed a motion for post-conviction relief pursuant to Rule 3.850 of the Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, which he subsequently amended. (Id. at 53-77). The state court denied the motion. (Doc. 8-15 at 30-38). Petitioner appealed, and the Fifth DCA affirmed per curiam. (Doc. 8-16 at 15). Mandate issued on April 11, 2014. Id. at 16.
Petitioner initiated the instant action on May 30, 2014. (Doc. 1).
Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2244:
(2) The 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 shall not be counted toward any period of limitation under this section.
28 U.S.C. § 2244(d).
In the present case, the Fifth DCA affirmed Petitioner's convictions on April 15, 2008. Petitioner then had ninety days, or through July 14, 2008, to petition the Supreme Court of the United States for writ of certiorari. See Sup. Ct. R. 13.
The Court is aware that Petitioner filed a Rule 3.850 motion on January 12, 2010; however, because the one-year period concluded before Petitioner initiated that proceeding, the tolling provision of section 2244(d)(2) does not apply to the state collateral proceeding. See Webster v. Moore, 199 F.3d 1256, 1259 (11th Cir. 2000) ("A state-court petition . . . that is filed following the expiration of the limitations period cannot toll that period because there is no period remaining to be tolled.").
Petitioner argues that he is entitled to equitable tolling. In support of his argument, Petitioner filed an affidavit attesting that on February 3, 2009, he hired attorney Frank J. Bankowitz ("Bankowitz") to file his Rule 3.850 motion. (Doc. 15 at 8). According to Petitioner, he told Bankowitz that he "had a sixth month deadline to file the motion for postconviction relief in order to toll and preserve his time for federal review." Id. Petitioner attests that Bankowitz assured him that "there would be no problem and that he'd have the motion done well within six months." Id. Petitioner maintains he tried to remind Bankowitz via mail between February and April 2009 that he needed to file the motion by August 2009, but Bankowitz was not responsive. Id. Bankowitz filed the Rule 3.850 motion in January 2010, which Petitioner attests was five months "past his agreement and promise." Id. at 15.
The Supreme Court of the United States has held that AEDPA's one-year statutory limitation period set forth in "§ 2244(d) is subject to equitable tolling in appropriate cases." Holland v. Florida, 560 U.S. 631, 645 (2010). Equitable tolling is appropriate when a 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. at 649 (quoting Pace v. DiGuglielmo, 544 U.S. 408, 418 (2005)). "The diligence required for equitable tolling purposes is `reasonable diligence,'. . . `not maximum feasible diligence. . . .'" Id. at 653 (internal quotations and citations omitted). To show extraordinary circumstances, a petitioner must "show a causal connection between the alleged extraordinary circumstances and the late filing of the petition." San Martin v. McNeil, 633 F.3d 1257, 1267 (11th Cir. 2011) (citing Lawrence v. Florida, 421 F.3d 1221, 1226-27 (11th Cir. 2005)).
The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has held that "attorney negligence, however gross or egregious, does not qualify as an `extraordinary circumstance' for purposes of equitable tolling; abandonment of the attorney-client relationship . . . is required." Cadet v. Fla. Dep't of Corr., 742 F.3d 473, 481-82 (11th Cir. 2014). Additionally, "`bad faith, dishonesty, divided loyalty, [and] mental impairment' . . . may . . . serve as extraordinary circumstances that support a claim to equitable tolling." Thomas v. Attorney Gen., Fla., 795 F.3d 1286, 1292 (11th Cir. 2015) (quoting Holland v. Florida, 539 F.3d 1334, 1339 (11th Cir. 2008), rev'd on other grounds, Holland v. Florida, 560 U.S. 631 (2010)). "Affirmative misrepresentations by counsel about the filing of a state habeas petition can constitute extraordinary circumstances that warrant equitable tolling." Roper v. Dep't of Corr., 434 F. App'x 786, 790 (11th Cir. 2011). As explained by the Eleventh Circuit:
Lugo v. Sec'y, Fl. Dep't of Corr., 750 F.3d 1198 (11th Cir. 2014).
Petitioner has offered evidence demonstrating that he hired an attorney to file his Rule 3.850 motion on February 3, 2009, and that his attorney assured him that he would file the motion by August 2009 but did not do so. Petitioner, however, incorrectly calculated the deadline for filing his federal petition to be in August 2009, when in fact the deadline was July 14, 2009. Petitioner's own miscalculation of the deadline does not qualify as an extraordinary circumstance for purposes of equitable tolling. Therefore, accepting Petitioner's attestations as true, Petitioner may have demonstrated that some extraordinary circumstance stood in his way through July 14, 2009, to prevent his timely filing of the petition. However, Petitioner has not established that an extraordinary circumstance prevented him from filing his petition after July 14, 2009, or that he exercised due diligence in pursuing his rights after this date.
Although Petitioner contends he attempted to remind Bankowitz via mail between February and April 2009 that the Rule 3.850 motion needed to be filed by August 2009, Petitioner took no action when he failed to receive a response from Bankowitz. Petitioner knew when he hired Bankowitz that he had approximately six months remaining in which to timely file his federal habeas petition or to file a state post-conviction motion to toll the remaining limitation period. Despite knowing of the approaching deadline and that Bankowitz had not responded to his communications or notified Petitioner that the Rule 3.850 motion had been filed, Petitioner took no action for more than eight months. Petitioner offers no reason why he did not take any further action after he failed to receive a response from Bankowitz or a notification that the Rule 3.850 motion had been filed. Given these circumstances, the Court finds Petitioner did not exercise reasonable diligence in pursuing his rights after July 14, 2009. Cf. Roper, 434 F. App'x at 791 n.5 (concluding the petitioner demonstrated due diligence because "[u]pon being told by counsel that a Rule 3.850 motion had been filed, [the petitioner] was not required to discount counsel's representation in order to show `reasonable diligence.'").
The Court concludes Petitioner has provided evidence that if true would establish that counsel's assurance he would file the Rule 3.850 motion within the one-year limitation period was an extraordinary circumstance that prevented Petitioner from timely filing his petition. Likewise, Petitioner has demonstrated that he exercised due diligence in pursuing his rights through July 14, 2009, at the latest. Thus, Petitioner would arguably be entitled to equitable tolling from February 3, 2009, through July 14, 2009. Petitioner, however, is not entitled to equitable tolling after July 14, 2009.
On July 14, 2009, Petitioner had 161 days
Any of Petitioner's allegations that attempt to excuse his failure to file the instant petition within the one-year period of limitation and that are not specifically addressed herein have been found to be without merit.
This Court should grant an application for certificate of appealability only if the Petitioner makes "a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right." 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2). To make such a showing "the petitioner must demonstrate that reasonable jurists would find the district court's assessment of the constitutional claims debatable or wrong." Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 484 (2000); see also Lamarca v. Sec'y Dep't of Corr., 568 F.3d 929, 934 (11th Cir. 2009). When a district court dismisses a federal habeas petition on procedural grounds without reaching the underlying constitutional claim, a certificate of appealability should issue only when a petitioner shows "that jurists of reason would find it debatable whether the petition states a valid claim of the denial of a constitutional right and that jurists of reason would find it debatable whether the district court was correct in its procedural ruling." Id.; Lamarca, 568 F.3d at 934. However, a prisoner need not show that the appeal will succeed. Miller-El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322, 337 (2003).
Petitioner has not demonstrated that reasonable jurists would find the district court's assessment of the constitutional claims debatable or wrong. Moreover, Petitioner cannot show that jurists of reason would find this Court's procedural rulings debatable. Petitioner has failed to make a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right. Thus, the Court will deny Petitioner a certificate of appealability.
Accordingly, it is hereby
1. The Amended Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus (Doc. 4) is
3. The Clerk of the Court shall enter judgment accordingly and is directed to close this case.
Sup. Ct. R. 13(3).