Barroca v. Hurwitz

342 F. Supp. 3d 178
CourtCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
DecidedSeptember 28, 2018
DocketCivil Action No. 13-1286 (RBW)
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 342 F. Supp. 3d 178 (Barroca v. Hurwitz) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Barroca v. Hurwitz, 342 F. Supp. 3d 178 (D.C. Cir. 2018).

Opinion

REGGIE B. WALTON, United States District Judge

This matter is before the Court on the Defendants' Motion to Dismiss, which the Court grants for reasons discussed below.

I. BACKGROUND & PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Robert Barroca ("the Plaintiff"), proceeding pro se , asserts in his Complaint ("Compl.") various constitutional violations. The Plaintiff, a federal prisoner, was detained at the United States Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana from October 2005 through April 2011. Compl. at 3 ¶ 1. He is serving a 240-month prison sentence imposed by the United States District Court for the Northern District of California in June 2005. See Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of the Defendants' Motion to Dismiss ("Defs.' Mem.") at 2; Plaintiff's Opposition to the Defendants' Motion to Dismiss. Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b) ("Pl.'s Opp'n") at 6. The conviction and sentence were subsequently affirmed by the Ninth Circuit. United States v. Barroca , 310 F. App'x 69, 70 (9th Cir. 2008). The Plaintiff's Petitions for en banc review by the Ninth Circuit and for certiorari in the Supreme Court were denied on October 24, 2008 and February 23, 2009, respectively. United States v. Barroca , Nos. 98-10275, 05-10462 (9th Cir. Oct. 24, 2008); Barroca , 310 F. App'x at 70, cert. denied, Barroca v. United States , 555 U.S. 1202, 129 S.Ct. 1389, 173 L.Ed.2d 641 (2009).

The crux of the Plaintiff's Complaint relates to his frustrations with the implementation of the Trust Fund Limited Inmate Computer System ("TRULINCS") by the Federal Bureau of Prisons ("BOP"). See Compl. at 4 ¶ 4. He alleges that TRULINCS prevented him from timely filing his § 2255 Habeas Petition ("Habeas Petition"). See id. He further alleges that TRULINCS, which requires inmates, with limited exceptions, "to place a TRULINCS-generated mailing label on all outgoing postal mail," did not provide adequate space to include the full address of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. See id. , Program Statement P5265.13, Trust Fund Limited Inmate Computer System (TRULINCS) - Electronic Messaging (2/19/2009), Sec. 4.c., Plaintiff's Exhibit ("Pl's Ex.") A. Consequently, the Plaintiff instead mailed the *185Petition to his sister, so that she could then mail it to the Court. Compl. at 6 ¶ 11. As a result, the Plaintiff's Habeas Petition was filed approximately six weeks late. See Order Dismissing the Petitioner's Motion for Writ of Habeas Corpus Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 With Prejudice ("Ord. Denying Hab. Pet."), United States v. Barroca , No. CR 94-0470 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 27, 2010). In dismissing the Plaintiff's Habeas Petition, Judge Vaughn R. Walker of the Northern District of California, stated the following:

Standing in the way of [Barroca's] claim for relief under section 2255 is the one-year statute of limitations .... Barroca was required to file his petition within one year after his judgment of conviction became final. 28 USC § 2255(f)(1). A judgment of conviction becomes final upon denial of a petition for certiorari ...
Barroca's judgment of conviction became final when the Supreme Court denied his certiorari petition on February 23, 2009. Barroca did not sign the instant § 2255 petition until March 22, 2010 and the petition was not filed with this court until April 6, 2010. Doc # 782. Under either the date of filing or the date of his signature, Barroca's petition is untimely pursuant to 28 USC § 2255(f)(1)...
As it plainly appears from the record before the court that Barroca is not entitled to relief on his untimely petition, the petition is DISMISSED pursuant to Rule 4(b) of the Rules Governing Section 2255 Proceedings.

Id. at 3-4.

The Plaintiff then filed a Motion to Toll the Statute of Limitations and to Vacate Judgment. See Motion and Request for Statutory and Equitable Tolling of AEDPA's Statute of Limitations and Motion to Vacate ("Mot. to Toll"), United States v. Barroca , No. CR 94-0470 (N.D. Cal. Sept. 13, 2010). The Plaintiff's Motion was dismissed. See Order Dismissing Petitioner's Motion for Wirt of Habeas Corpus Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. ¶ 2255 With Prejudice, Denying Certificate of Appealability ("Ord. Denying Mot. to Toll"), United States v. Barroca , No. CR 94-0470 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 20, 2011). With respect to the mailing labels, the court found that

... the alleged inability to fit the Court's mailing address on the TRULINCS labels cannot serve as a basis for statutory tolling. Although Petitioner claims that the mailing address of the Court did not fit on the labels used by the TRULINCS program, the evidence establishes that the Court's mailing address did, in fact, fit on TRULINCS labels.[ ] Further, Petitioner's contention is belied by the fact that he was able to successfully file three separate pleadings with other districts in December 2009, at least two of which were served on parties using mailing addresses as long or longer than that of this Court.

Id. at 8 (footnote and citation omitted).

Next, the Plaintiff sought relief by way of a Motion Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b). See Motion for Relief from Judgment; Newly Discovered Evidence pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b)(1)-(4) ; Request for Indicative Ruling Fed. R. Civ. P. 62

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Bluebook (online)
342 F. Supp. 3d 178, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/barroca-v-hurwitz-cadc-2018.