Bolduc v. United States

248 F. App'x 162
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
DecidedSeptember 5, 2007
Docket2006-5144
StatusUnpublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 248 F. App'x 162 (Bolduc v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bolduc v. United States, 248 F. App'x 162 (Fed. Cir. 2007).

Opinions

MAYER, Circuit Judge.

Frank Bolduc appeals the judgment of the United States Court of Federal Claims, which dismissed his suit as untimely filed. Bolduc v. United States, 72 Fed.Cl. 187 (2006). We affirm.

Prior to November 1989, Bolduc was convicted of second-degree murder in Massachusetts and sentenced to life in prison. He was eventually granted parole and released from prison. On November 1, 1989, while free on parole, he was arrested along with his alleged partner and charged with the robbery of an armored car in Chelms-ford, Massachusetts. Finding that this arrest violated his parole, the Massachusetts parole board reinstated his life sentence and Bolduc was returned to jail.

While in jail awaiting trial for the Massachusetts armored car robbery, he was indicted by a federal grand jury for his alleged role in two Wisconsin bank robberies. Bolduc was then transferred to Wisconsin, where he was tried and convicted by a federal jury in February 1991, and sentenced to 580 months in prison. Because this conviction was a sufficient basis upon which to revoke his parole, Bolduc was returned to the custody of the Massachusetts state penal system to resume serving his life sentence. Since he was already in jail for life, the Massachusetts state officials decided to enter nolle prose-quis in the Chelmsford armored car robbery case.

Although Bolduc and his alleged partner were already incarcerated for the Wisconsin bank robberies, similar crimes continued to plague the Midwest. Bolduc v. United States, 402 F.3d 50, 53 (1st Cir. 2005). More than six years after his Wisconsin conviction, one William Kirkpatrick was arrested on suspicion of involvement in the more recent robberies. Id. Kirkpatrick eventually confessed that he and a partner were also responsible for the two robberies for which Bolduc and his partner had been convicted. Id. at 54. Bolduc then filed a federal habeas corpus petition, [164]*164which was not opposed by the government. Id. On June 11, 1999, a federal district court granted his petition and vacated his conviction. See Bolduc v. United States, 72 Fed.Cl. 187, 188 (2006). However, the district court did not grant his certificate of innocence until October 7, 1999, and the Massachusetts parole board did not authorize his release from prison until November 1999. Id.

On August 9, 2001, Bolduc sued the United States in the Massachusetts federal district court under the Federal Torts Claims Act for its alleged failure to disclose exculpatory evidence during his federal trial in Wisconsin. Id. at 189. The court ruled in favor of the government, and the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed on March 28, 2005. See Bolduc v. United States, 265 F.Supp.2d 153 (D.Mass.2003), aff'd, 402 F.3d 50 (1st Cir.2005).

On June 17, 2005, Bolduc filed this suit in the Court of Federal Claims, seeking monetary damages under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1495 and 2513 for his unjust conviction and imprisonment. The government moved to have the case dismissed as untimely under 28 U.S.C. § 2501, which imposes a six-year statute of limitations on claims filed in that court. The government argued that Bolduc’s claim accrued when his conviction was vacated by the district court in Wisconsin on June 11, 1999, which would mean that the period of limitations expired on June 11, 2005—six days before he filed this lawsuit. Bolduc countered that his claim did not accrue until the district court granted his certificate of innocence on October 7, 1999. Bolduc further argued that, even if the claim did accrue when his conviction was vacated, the six-year limitations period was tolled by 28 U.S.C. § 1500 since the Court of Federal Claims was deprived of jurisdiction while his related case was pending in Massachusetts. The Court of Federal Claims dismissed the case as untimely, and Bolduc appeals. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1295(a)(3).

A decision by the Court of Federal Claims to dismiss a case as untimely filed is a question of law, and is therefore reviewed de novo. Brown v. United States, 195 F.3d 1334, 1337 (Fed.Cir.1999). Questions of statutory interpretation are also reviewed de novo. AD Global Fund v. United States, 481 F.3d 1351, 1353 (Fed.Cir.2007).

Bolduc argues that his claim did not accrue when his federal conviction was vacated on June 11, 1999, but when his certificate of innocence was issued on October 7, 1999. His argument has no support in law. To establish a prima facie case of unjust conviction and imprisonment, a party need only allege that (1) “[h]is conviction has been reversed or set aside on the ground that he is not guilty of the offense of which he was convicted ... as appears from the record” or that he was pardoned for the offense “upon the stated ground of innocence and unjust conviction”; and (2) he did not actually commit any of the acts charged, and he also “did not by misconduct or neglect cause or bring about his own prosecution.” 28 U.S.C. § 2513(a). A certificate of innocence is not an element of a prima facie case of unjust conviction and imprisonment; it is merely a means of proving the underlying facts. Id. § 2513(b) (“Proof of the requisite facts shall be by a certificate of the court or pardon wherein such facts are alleged to appear, and other evidence thereof shall not be received.”). Here, the order vacating Bolduc’s judgment stated that Kirkpatrick had confessed to the crimes of which Bolduc had been convicted, that there was evidence that Kirkpatrick’s confession was genuine, and that Bolduc had no connection to Kirkpatrick. [165]*165Bolduc could therefore allege that this order was entered “on the ground that he [wa]s not guilty.” This, coupled with an allegation satisfying the requirements of 28 U.S.C. § 2513(a)(2), was sufficient for Bolduc to allege a prima facie case of unjust conviction and imprisonment. Thus, Bolduc’s claim accrued when his conviction was vacated, because that was the moment when all of “the events [had] occurred which fix[ed] the liability of the Government and entitle[d][him] to institute an action.” Brighton Vill. Assocs. v. United States, 52 F.3d 1056, 1060 (Fed.Cir.1995) (internal quotations omitted). The date upon which his certificate of innocence was issued has no bearing. The six-year period of limitations expired on June 11, 2006, so the trial court correctly determined that his suit was untimely filed.

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Bluebook (online)
248 F. App'x 162, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bolduc-v-united-states-cafc-2007.