Berger v. Stinson

977 F. Supp. 243, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12935, 1997 WL 535227
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. New York
DecidedAugust 22, 1997
Docket97-CV-6150L
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 977 F. Supp. 243 (Berger v. Stinson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Berger v. Stinson, 977 F. Supp. 243, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12935, 1997 WL 535227 (W.D.N.Y. 1997).

Opinion

DECISION AND ORDER

LARIMER, Chief'Judge.

On April 16, 1997, petitioner, Richard Berger, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Berger was convicted on June 13, 1986 in New York State Supreme Court, Monroe County, of murder in the second degree. The State has filed an answer to the petition opposing the petition on several grounds. Because I agree with the State that the petition is time-barred . by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (“AEDPA”), I conclude that the petition must be dismissed.

DISCUSSION

The AEDPA, which became effective on April 24, 1996, amended 28 U.S.C. § 2244, in pertinent part as follows:

(1) A 1-year period shall apply to an application for a writ of habeas corpus by a person in custody pursuant to the judgment of a State court. The limitation period shall run from the latest of—
(A) the date on which the judgment became final by the conclusion of direct review or the expiration of the time for seeking such review;
(B) the date on which the impediment to filing an application created by State action in violation of the Constitution or laws of the United States is removed, if the applicant was prevented from filing by such State action;
(C) the date on which the constitutional right asserted was initially recognized by the Supreme Court, if the right has been newly recognized by the Supreme Court and made retroactively applicable to eases on collateral review; or
(D) the date on which the factual predicate of the claim or claims presented could have been discovered through the exercise of due diligence.
(2) The time during which a properly filed application for State post-conviction or other collateral review with respect to the *244 pertinent judgment or claim is pending shall not be counted toward any period of limitation under this subsection.

28 U.S.C. § 2244(d).

To analyze the effect of the AEDPA on the instant case, then, it is necessary to set forth the dates of the relevant events. As stated, petitioner'was convicted on June 13, 1986. The Appellate Division, Fourth Department, affirmed his conviction on April 3, 1987. The grounds for that appeal were the prosecution’s failure to apprise Berger before trial of the substance of a certain witness’s testimony, and ineffective assistance of counsel, neither of which is raised here. The New York Court of Appeals denied leave to appeal on June 18, 1987. The Appellate Division also denied a pro se motion for reargument on November 10,1987.

In October 1990, Berger filed a motion for a writ of error coram nobis, based on a claim of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel. The Appellate Division denied the motion on November 2,1990.

In June 1994, Berger filed a motion in Supreme Court under N.Y. C.P.L. § 440.10. The ground for the motion was that the prosecution violated its obligations under Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963), by failing to inform Berger of evidence favorable to him, specifically the criminal history of a prosecution witness, James Ryan. While that motion was pending, Berger’s attorney also sent the court a copy of a statement of Richard Lindsay, an alleged coconspirator who told the police that Ryan had told him that Ryan committed the murder. Berger contended that the prosecution’s failure to provide him with this statement before trial constituted a second Brady violation.

Supreme Court denied the § 440.10 motion on October 18, 1994. The Appellate Division denied permission to appeal on February 23, 1995. Berger sought leave to appeal to the Court of Appeals, and the Appellate Division denied that application on March 28,1995, on the ground that the order sought to be appealed from was not appealable under C.P.L. § 450.90(1).

The petition in this case was filed on April 16, 1997. The grounds raised are the two alleged Brady violations that were the basis for Berger’s § 440.10 motion, as well as a third claim that was never presented to the state courts. This claim also asserts a Brady violation based on the prosecution’s alleged failure to provide Berger with the statement of one David Leecy, who stated in a supporting deposition that Ryan had told him certain things that were inconsistent with his trial testimony.

Berger’s habeas petition, then, was filed more than one year after termination of his state court proceedings, but less than one year after the effective date of the AEDPA. The Second Circuit addressed this situation in Peterson v. Demskie, 107 F.3d 92 (2d Cir.1997), holding that “a habeas corpus petitioner is entitled to a reasonable time after the effective date of the AEDPA to file a petition.” Id. at 92. Finding that the Peterson petitioner’s filing of his petition seventy-two days after the effective date of the AED-PA was timely, the court declined to set forth a precise definition of “reasonable time,” though it did state that “where a state prisoner has had several years to contemplate bringing a federal habeas corpus petition, we see no need to accord a full year after the effective date of the AEDPA.” Id. at 93.

In the case at bar, Berger’s state court proceedings ended on March 28, 1995, when the Appellate D vision denied his application for leave to appeal the denial of his § 440.10 motion to the Court of Appeals. That was over two years before Berger filed his petition in this court. In addition, his state court proceedings should have ended on February 23, 1995, when the Appellate Division denied his application for leave to appeal to the Appellate Division, since § 450.90 does not authorize appeals, from an intermediate appellate court’s denial of permission to appeal, nor does the Criminal Procedure Law allow appeals from a trial court’s denial of a § 440.10 motion directly to the Court of Appeals.

In support of his assertion that the petition was timely filed, Berger’s attorney states that Berger was wounded in a knife attack by other inmates in June 1995, and that *245 during his convalescence, Berger “has had difficulty” in communicating with his attorney. Robert M. Siméis Aff., Apr. 15, 1997, ¶ 6. He also states that Berger’s relatives, who are financing this petition, did not have the, funds to proceed until the Fall of 1996, and that it took counsel some time to obtain necessary documents. Siméis Aff. ¶ 7.

I am not persuaded that these alleged circumstances render Berger’s petition timely.

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Bluebook (online)
977 F. Supp. 243, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12935, 1997 WL 535227, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/berger-v-stinson-nywd-1997.