Felix v. United States

District Court, D. Arizona·Decided November 5, 2019·No. 4:18-cv-00148·Unknown

Opinion

WO

United States of America, No. CV-18-00148-TUC-JGZ No. CR-11-03280-TUC-JGZ Plaintiff/Respondent, ORDER v.

Ernesto Felix,

Defendant/Movant. Pending before the Court is Petitioner Ernesto Felix’s Motion to Vacate, Set Aside, or Correct Sentence pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255. (Doc. 1.1) The Government responded. (Doc. 13.) Felix did not file a reply. Dispositive of this action is whether Felix is entitled to equitable tolling of the statute of limitations for filing a § 2255 Motion because of alleged memory issues. Upon consideration of the record and the parties’ arguments, the Court will deny Felix’s § 2255 Motion as untimely filed. I. Background In September 2011, a grand jury indicted Felix and co-defendants Luis Corral, Gerardo Cota-Soto, Jesus Bautista-Sanchez, and Carmen Valdivia-Salazar charging one count of Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine and Cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A)(viii) and 21 U.S.C. §841(b)(1)(A)(ii)(II); two counts of Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine in violation of 21 U.S.C. §841(a)(1) and 21 U.S.C. §841(b)(1)(A)(viii); and one count of 1 Unless otherwise indicated, documents cited are filed in CV 18-148-TUC-JGZ. Possession with Intent to Distribute Cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. §841(a)(1) and 21 U.S.C. §841(b)(1)(A)(ii)(II). (CR 11-3280-TUC-JGZ (CR 11-3280), Doc. 12.) The charges arose from events occurring on August 24 and 25, 2011. (Id.) During the course of this action, Felix was represented by a succession of appointed counsel. In January 2013, Felix, during first representation, pleaded guilty to Count 3 of the indictment alleging possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. (CR 11-3280, Docs. 131, 220.) During the colloquy, Felix stated that he did “not remember what happened” regarding the events leading to his arrest, he understood the charges against him, and he agreed that the government could prove the factual basis set forth in the plea agreement. (CR 11-3280, Doc. 220, pp. 6, 13, 15–20.2) The plea agreement provided for a range of 63 to 108 months of imprisonment. (Id. at 19.) On May 7, 2013, Felix’s counsel notified the Court that Felix was not safety valve eligible and that counsel needed to confer with Felix about continuing with his guilty plea or withdrawing from it.3 (Doc. 13, p. 4.) On that same date, Felix filed a request for new counsel, claiming that current counsel was ineffective because he did not “adequately explain[] facts regarding papers he aggressively expects me to sign” or answer Felix’s questions, and counsel lacked interest demonstrated by his disregard of Felix’s “objections and assertions with regard[] to my case.” (Id.; CR 11-3280, Doc. 180.) The Court granted Felix’s request and appointed new counsel. (Doc. 13, p. 4.) At a June 12, 2013 status conference, Felix’s second counsel requested additional time to consider matters pertinent to sentencing and to have Felix examined to determine competency, indicating that Felix “may have a diminished capacity to understand things.” (CR 11-3280, Doc. 372, p. 4.) On June 15, 2013, Felix’s counsel filed a Motion to Determine Competency stating “that there is a good faith question as to Mr. Felix’s present competency, based on a mental disease or defect, to either assist in his own defense at trial

2 Reference to page numbers of cited filings correlate to the page number assigned by the Court’s electronic filing system (CM/ECF) that appears at the top of each page of the document.

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