Franklin v. New York

306 F.R.D. 103, 2015 WL 3486733
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedJune 2, 2015
DocketNo. 13-CV-5075
StatusPublished

This text of 306 F.R.D. 103 (Franklin v. New York) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Franklin v. New York, 306 F.R.D. 103, 2015 WL 3486733 (E.D.N.Y. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM & ORDER

JACK B. WEINSTEIN, Senior District Judge.

Table of Contents

I. Introduction.............................................................105

II. Facts...................................................................105

A Crime of Conviction..................................................106

B. Events Precipitating Petitioner’s Conviction.............................106

III. Procedural History.......................................................106

A. Petitioner’s Conviction................................................106

[105]*105.107 B. State Court Direct Appeals...................

.107 C. Motion to Vacate Conviction...................107

.108 D. Instant Petition.............................

IV. Applicable Law................................. 109

A. Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act . 109

B. Statute of Limitations....................... 110

C. Equitable Tolling........................... 110

V. Application of Law to Facts ........ 111

VI. Conclusion....................... 111

I. Introduction

Petitioner, Steven Franklin, seeks a writ of habeas corpus. See 28 U.S.C. § 2254. It is denied. A certifícate of appealability is granted. This may be a rare ease where dilatory conduct alone suggests mental problems sufficient to warrant tolling.

On September 19, 2006, a jury convicted petitioner of a felony, Assault in the First Degree. See Ex. 4 to Letter from Norman Trabulus, May 13, 2015, ECF No. 32 (“State Court Decision Denying Mot. to Vacate”). He was sentenced to eighteen years imprisonment. Id. at 1. To date, he has served some eight years.

The petition was filed on September 9, 2013. See Pet. Under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 for Writ of Habeas Corpus 1, ECF No. 1 (“Pet. 1”). The applicable one year statute of limitations had already barred the proceeding. See 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(1). Time began to run on February 2, 2010, the end of the ninety-day period for filing a certiorari petition in the United States Supreme Court from the decision of the New York Court of Appeals denying leave to appeal. See infra Part III.B; Sup.Ct. R. 13(1); 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(1)(A).

Petitioner had filed a motion in state court to vacate his conviction on September 22, 2010. See infra Part III.C. That stopped the statute of limitations clock with respect to an application for habeas relief. See 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(2). This filing occurred after approximately eight months of the statute of limitations period had passed. The motion was denied on February 25, 2011. See infra Part III.C.

An untimely motion for leave to appeal was denied by the Appellate Division on July 13, 2012. Id. No other state collateral attacks on petitioner’s conviction have been pursued.

The habeas statute of limitations ran out, at the latest, on December 18, 2012. See N.Y.Crim. Pro. Law § 460.10(5)(a) (McKinney 2005); 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(1)(A). The instant habeas petition was filed approximately nine months after this date, on September 9, 2013. See Pet. 1.

No exceptional circumstances, mental or otherwise, prevented petitioner from more diligently pursuing his rights. In a letter dated May 13, 2015, petitioner’s counsel conceded that his client does not meet the requirements for equitable tolling: “I am unable to make a case that petitioner’s mental state interfered with his ability to file his habeas corpus petition for long enough to render the petition timely via equitable tolling of the statute of limitations, 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(l) and (2).” See Letter from Norman Trabulus 1, May 13, 2015, ECF No. 32 (“Trabulus Letter”) (emphasis added).

The court allowed the petitioner to file a pro se brief by May 25, 2015. See Order, May 14, 2015, ECF No. 33. He did not do so. It also allowed him to testify in this court and to produce any evidence of a requisite mental state. See Hr’g Tr., May 26, 2015. He was unable to testify or produce any evidence supporting tolling. Id.

Having filed his petition too late, petitioner’s request for habeas carpus relief is denied.

II. Facts

The facts are provided for context. They were not relied on in deciding the statute of limitations issue. They were drawn from the parties’ briefs to the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second De[106]*106partment, on petitioner’s appeal of his conviction. See Br. of Resp., 2008 WL 8627328 (September 11, 2008), People v. Franklin, 883 N.Y.S.2d 95 (N.Y.App.Div.2d Dep’t 2009), (“Resp.’s Br.”); Br. of Def.-Appellant, 2009 WL 9373843 (June 12, 2009), People v. Franklin, 883 N.Y.S.2d 95 (N.Y.App.Div.2d Dep’t 2009), (“Def.-Appellant’s Br.”).

A. Crime of Conviction

On September 12, 2005, fifteen-year-old Jeffrey Saunders was shot in the stomach. See Def.-Appellant’s Br. *5. The bullet perforated his liver and lodged close to his spine. Id. at *6.

B. Events Precipitating Petitioner’s Conviction

At about 8:30 p.m., on September 12, 2005, petitioner, age twenty-six, was talking on his cell phone while standing in front of 360 Dumont Avenue, part of the Tilden Houses in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn. See Def.-Appellant’s Br. *2. He was standing with three other men, including Quintell Blount and Rasheem Williams. See Resp.’s Br. *7. As the victim passed by, petitioner accused him of bumping into him. Id. at *4. An argument followed. See Def.-Appellant’s Br. *3.

At the time, Towander Collins, Saunders’s mother, was looking out the window of her twelfth-floor apartment on 360 Dumont Avenue. Id. at *3-4. Her son at risk, she came down. See Resp.’s Br. *4. Collins asked petitioner what the problem was. Id. He replied that he had been “disrespected” and would not tolerate it. Id.

The intervention by Collins having abated the dispute, petitioner and his friends walked away. Id. Collins and Saunders returned to their apartment. See Def.-Appellant’s Br. *4.

Within a few minutes, petitioner called a friend, Richard Thomas, who lived next door to Saunders’s building. See Resp.’s Br. *6.

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Bluebook (online)
306 F.R.D. 103, 2015 WL 3486733, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/franklin-v-new-york-nyed-2015.