1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 SALVADOR GUTIERREZ, Case No.: 22cv1413-JO(LR)
12 Petitioner, REPORT AND 13 v. RECOMMENDATION FOR ORDER GRANTING RESPONDENT’S 14 JAMES HILL, MOTION TO DISMISS 15 Respondent. [ECF No. 8] 16 17 18 This Report and Recommendation is submitted to the Honorable Jinsook Ohta, 19 United States District Judge, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1) and Civil Local Rule 20 72.1(c) of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. On 21 September 15, 2022, Petitioner Salvador Gutierrez, a state prisoner proceeding pro se, 22 commenced these habeas corpus proceedings pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 by filing a 23 Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus (“Petition”). (Pet. Writ Habeas Corpus, ECF No. 1 24 (“Pet.”).) 25 Now pending before the Court is Respondent’s Motion to Dismiss the Petition as 26 untimely (“Motion to Dismiss”), and Petitioner’s Opposition to Respondent’s Motion to 27 Dismiss. (ECF Nos. 8, 9.) For the reasons set forth below, the Court RECOMMENDS 28 1 that Respondent’s Motion to Dismiss be GRANTED and that the Petition be 2 DISMISSED as untimely. 3 I. BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY 4 A. Petitioner’s Criminal Conviction and Direct Appeal 5 On September 23, 2015, a jury convicted Petitioner of nine counts of committing 6 lewd and lascivious acts upon a child pursuant to California Penal Code section 288(a). 7 (See Lodgment 1 at 2; Lodgment 5 at 1.) As to counts one through seven, the jury found 8 true that the victim was under fourteen years of age within the meaning of California 9 Penal Code section 1203.066(a)(8). (Lodgment 5 at 1.) On September 24, 2015, the trial 10 court found true that Petitioner had a prior conviction for California Penal Code section 11 288(a) within the meaning of California Penal Code section 667.61(a)(c)(d), which 12 qualified as a serious felony prior conviction and a felony strike prior conviction. (Id.) 13 The trial court subsequently found that Petitioner’s previous Arizona conviction qualified 14 as a serious felony prior conviction and a felony strike prior conviction. (Id.) On 15 January 5, 2016, Petitioner was sentenced to 205 years to life in state prison. (Id.; 16 Lodgment 1 at 2.) 17 On February 1, 2016, Petitioner filed a notice of appeal in the California Court of 18 Appeal, arguing that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to the use of the 19 Arizona conviction for impeachment purposes because the Arizona conviction was not a 20 crime of moral turpitude. (Lodgment 5 at 2; see also ECF No. 1-2 at 1.) Additionally, 21 Petitioner argued that the trial court violated his Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial 22 when it determined that the Arizona conviction constituted a serious felony and strike 23 prior under California law. (Lodgment 5 at 2.) 24 On May 22, 2017, the California Court of Appeal found that Petitioner’s trial 25 counsel was not ineffective for failing to object to the use of the Arizona conviction for 26 impeachment purposes, but the trial court violated Petitioner’s right to a jury trial when it 27 determined the Arizona conviction constituted a serious felony. (Id.; ECF No. 1-2 at 2.) 28 The appellate court reversed the finding that the Arizona prior conviction for child 1 molestation constituted a prior strike conviction and a serious felony, and remanded the 2 case for resentencing. (Lodgment 5 at 2.) 3 On October 24, 2017, on remand, Petitioner was resentenced to 135 years to life in 4 state prison. (Id.) 5 On October 31, 2017, Petitioner appealed his conviction to the California Court of 6 Appeal claiming that his sentence constituted cruel and unusual punishment. (Id.) On 7 June 4, 2019, the California Court of Appeal “remanded [the action] only for 8 resentencing to allow the court to consider whether it should strike one or more of 9 [Petitioner’s] serious prior felonies on which the enhancements imposed under section 10 667, subdivision (a)(1) are based,” and affirmed the judgment in all other respects. 11 (Lodgment 1 at 40–41; see also ECF No. 1-2 at 6.) 12 On July 15, 2019, Petitioner filed a petition for review in the California Supreme 13 Court. (Lodgment 2.) On September 18, 2019, the California Supreme Court summarily 14 denied the petition. (Lodgment 3.) 15 On January 21, 2020, the Superior Court of California scheduled a “resentencing 16 after remittitur” hearing for March 3, 2020. (Lodgment 171 at 2.) On March 3, 2020, on 17 remand, the Superior Court declined to resentence Petitioner. (Id. at 1 (stating that 18 “[a]fter arguments from both counsel, the court’s sentence of 10.24.17 remains as 19 ordered”; see also id. (stating that the judgement “remains as ordered”).) Petitioner did 20 not appeal the trial court’s March 3, 2020 sentencing decision. (ECF No. 11 at 1.) 21 22 23
24 25 1 The Court notes that Lodgment 17 is filed separately as ECF No. 11-1 at 1–2, and all other lodgments are filed as ECF Nos. 8-3–8-13. After reviewing the lodgments and the parties’ briefing with respect to 26 Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss, the Court ordered Respondent to file supplemental lodgments. (ECF No. 10 at 2.) Respondent supplemented the lodgments on April 24, 2023, with Lodgment 17. (See ECF 27 No. 11.)
28 1 B. Petitioner’s State Habeas Petitions 2 On September 30, 2021, Petitioner’s state habeas petition was filed in the San 3 Diego County Superior Court, where Petitioner argued that: (1) fundamental miscarriage 4 of justice occurred in his case as a result of proceedings leading to conviction under both 5 state and federal law; (2) his prosecution was unconstitutional because it was time-barred 6 under the state statute of limitations, (3) he was denied due process based on pre-charging 7 delay, and (4) he received ineffective assistance of counsel. (Lodgment 4; see also 8 Lodgment 5 at 2.) On December 10, 2021, the San Diego County Superior Court denied 9 the petition. (Lodgment 5.) 10 On April 25, 2022, Petitioner’s petition for writ of habeas corpus was filed in the 11 California Court of Appeal, raising the same claims. (Lodgment 6; see also Lodgment 4; 12 Appellate Courts Case Information, https://appellatecases.courtinfo.ca.gov/search/case/ 13 dockets.cfm?dist=41&doc_id=2381472&doc_no=D080318&request_token=NiIwLSEm 14 Lkw7WyBdSCItTElJQEg6UkxbKyJeSztRMCAgCg%3D%3D (last visited May 1, 15 2023).) On May 16, 2022, the Court of Appeal denied the petition on procedural grounds 16 for failure to raise the claims on appeal, and on the merits. (Lodgment 7.) 17 On May 23, 2022, Petitioner raised the same grounds in a petition for writ of 18 habeas corpus filed in the California Supreme Court. (Lodgment 8; see also Lodgment 9; 19 Appellate Courts Case Information, https://appellatecases.courtinfo.ca.gov/search/case/ 20 dockets.cfm?dist=0&doc_id=2383587&doc_no=S274700&request_token=NiIwLSEmLk 21 w6WzBZSCM9WE5IQDg0UDxTJCNeWzpTMCAgCg%3D%3D (last visited May 1, 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 2023).) The California Supreme Court summarily denied the petition on July 13, 2022. 2 (Lodgment 10.) 3 C. Petitioner’s Federal Habeas Petition 4 On September 15, 2022,2 Petitioner’s federal Petition was filed in the United States 5 District Court for the Southern District of California. (See Pet.) Petitioner asserts the 6 following claims: (1) fundamental miscarriage of justice occurred in his case as a result 7 of the proceedings leading to conviction under both state and federal law; (2) his 8 conviction was unconstitutional because the victim’s claims were time-barred; (3) his due 9 process rights were violated by a delay between the initial reports of sexual abuse and his 10 arrest and prosecution; and (4) he received ineffective assistance of trial counsel due to 11 counsel’s failure to raise these claims and other alleged deficiencies. (See id.) 12 II. DISCUSSION 13 Respondent moves to dismiss the Petition with prejudice, claiming that it is time- 14 barred under the one-year statute of limitations set forth in the Antiterrorism and 15 Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (“AEDPA”). (Mot. Dismiss Pet. Writ Habeas 16
17 18 2 Petitioner’s federal Petition was signed on September 1, 2022, (see Pet. at 44), and mailed to the United Statas District Court for the Southern District of California on September 13, 2022, (see id. at 11, 19 45). The Court notes that courts apply the “prison mailbox rule” to pro se prisoner petitions, deeming the petition filed on the date the prisoner delivers it to prison authorities for forwarding to the clerk of 20 court. Houston v. Lack, 487 U.S. 266 (1988). “To benefit from the mailbox rule, (1) a prisoner must 21 proceed without counsel, and (2) the petition must be delivered to prison authorities for mailing to the court within the limitations period.” Hernandez, 764 F.3d at 1074. The record in this case does not 22 establish that Petitioner handed the Petition to prison authorities for mailing; rather a non-prisoner “paralegal” retained by Petitioner’s family mailed the Petition for filing. See Pet. at 11, 45; see also 23 Opp’n at 5 (containing Edward Gutierrez’s declaration stating that “[t]he paralegal filed the case on May 18, 2021”). Under these facts, the “prison mailbox rule” does not apply. See Hernandez, 764 F.3d 24 at 1074–75 (internal quotations omitted) (noting that courts have refused to apply the “prison mailbox 25 rule” in cases where “a prisoner gives a petition to a third party who is not confined in prison for filing through regular channels,” because applying the “prison mailbox rule” to petitions mailed from prison to 26 third parties “would allow prisoners to mail habeas petitions to third parties for substantive revisions while claiming their earlier mailing date as the filing date, thus circumvent[ing] statutes of limitations.”). 27 Further, even if the Court were to deem the federal Petition filed on September 13, 2022, as discussed in Sections II.C and II.D, the Petition would still be untimely. 28 1 Corpus, ECF No. 8-1 (“Mot. Dismiss”) at 5–11.) Respondent further argues that 2 Petitioner is not entitled to statutory or equitable tolling. (Id. at 5, 8–11.) 3 Petitioner asserts in his Opposition that his Petition is timely. (Opp’n Mot. 4 Dismiss, ECF No. 9 (“Opp’n”) at 8–11.) He also contends that he is entitled to statutory 5 and equitable tolling, and asks the Court to deny Respondent’s Motion to Dismiss. (Id. at 6 1, 10–12.) 7 A. Legal Standard 8 The AEDPA imposes a one-year period of limitation on applications for a writ of 9 habeas corpus by persons in custody pursuant to the judgment of a state court. 28 U.S.C. 10 § 2244(d)(1). The limitation period begins to run from the latest of the following events: 11 (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; 12
13 (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 14 removed, if the applicant was prevented from filing by such State action; 15 (C) the date on which the constitutional right asserted was initially 16 recognized by the Supreme Court, if the right has been newly recognized by 17 the Supreme Court and made retroactively applicable to cases on collateral review; or 18
19 (D) the date on which the factual predicate of the claim or claims presented could have been discovered through the exercise of due diligence. 20
21 Id. 22 The AEDPA’s one-year statute of limitations period can be statutorily and 23 equitably tolled. Statutory tolling suspends the limitations period for the “time during 24 which a properly filed application for State post-conviction or other collateral review” is 25 pending. See 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(2). Equitable tolling of the statute of limitations is 26 appropriate when a petitioner can show “‘(1) that he has been pursuing his rights 27 diligently, and (2) that some extraordinary circumstance stood in his way’ and prevented 28 timely filing.” Holland v. Florida, 560 U.S. 631, 649 (2010) (quoting Pace v. 1 DiGuglielmo, 544 U.S. 408, 418 (2005); see also Fue v. Biter, 842 F.3d 650, 653 (9th 2 Cir. 2016) (same). 3 A petitioner bears the burden of demonstrating that the limitations period is 4 sufficiently tolled under statutory or equitable principles. See Valdez v. Montgomery, 5 918 F.3d 687, 691 (9th Cir. 2019). It is appropriate to dismiss a federal petition for writ 6 of habeas corpus with prejudice when the petition is not filed within the AEDPA’s one- 7 year statute of limitations. Jiminez v. Rice, 276 F.3d 478, 482–83 (9th Cir. 2001). 8 B. Analysis of the Petition under § 2244(d)(1) 9 Respondent asserts that Petitioner’s state court judgment became final on 10 December 17, 2019, and the statute of limitations to file a federal habeas petition expired 11 on December 17, 2020. (Mot. Dismiss at 5–8.) Responded argues that because 12 Petitioner’s federal Petition was filed in September 2022, it is untimely. (Id.) 13 Petitioner contends that he “received a new or valid intervening judgement at least 14 once if not more from his multiple trips back to the trial court and appealed or attempted 15 to appeal these decisions.” (Opp’n at 10.) Petitioner therefore alleges that he is entitled 16 to a “later start date for the Federal Statute of Limitations.” (Id.) 17 Because the Petition was filed after the effective date of the AEDPA, it is subject 18 to the AEDPA’s one-year statute of limitations, as set forth at 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d). See 19 Patterson v. Stewart, 251 F.3d 1243, 1245 (9th Cir. 2001). Petitioner has not established 20 that there were state created impediments that prevented him from filing his Petition 21 sooner, that his claims rely on a new constitutional right, or that the factual predicate for 22 his claim was unknown at the time his conviction became final. See 28 U.S.C. 23 § 2244(d)(1)(B)–(D). As such, 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(1)(A) governs in this case. 24 The AEDPA’s one-year statute of limitations began to run on “the date on which 25 judgment became final by the conclusion of direct review or the expiration of the time for 26 seeking such review.” 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(1)(A). “Direct review” includes the period 27 within which a petitioner can file a petition for a writ of certiorari from the United States 28 Supreme Court, whether or not the petitioner actually files such a petition. Bowen v. 1 Roe, 188 F.3d 1157, 1159 (9th Cir. 1999). The relevant judgment, for purposes of 2 determining the start of the one-year statute of limitations for filing a habeas petition 3 under 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(1), is the “judgment under which a prisoner is being 4 held.” Marquez v. McDaniel, 729 F. App’x 583, 584 (9th Cir. 2018) (citing Smith v. 5 Williams, 871 F.3d 684, 688 (9th Cir. 2017)). “Where an amended or corrected 6 judgment is entered, a prisoner is held under that amended or corrected judgment,” and 7 “the one-year [statute of limitations] period runs from the date of the amended 8 judgment.” Id. 9 Although Petitioner was initially sentenced on January 5, 2016, his direct appeal 10 process through the California courts was extensive, and involved several remands and 11 resentencing decisions. As discussed above, on October 24, 2017, on remand, the trial 12 court resentenced Petitioner to 135 years to life in state prison. (Lodgment 5 at 2; see 13 also Lodgment 4 at 2.) On June 4, 2019, the California Court of Appeal “remanded [the 14 action] only for resentencing to allow the court to consider whether it should strike one or 15 more of defendant’s serious prior felonies on which the enhancements imposed under 16 section 667, subdivision (a)(1) are based,” and affirmed the judgment in all other 17 respects. (Lodgment 1 at 40–41.) On March 3, 2020, on the last remand, the Superior 18 Court found that its “sentence of 10.24.17 remains as ordered.” (Lodgment 17 at 1; see 19 also id. (stating that the judgement “remains in effect”).) The Court therefore needs to 20 determine when Petitioner’s judgment became final for purposes of determining the start 21 date of the one-year statute of limitations for filing a habeas petition under 28 U.S.C. 22 § 2244(d)(1). 23 In Colvin, the Ninth Circuit stated that “a judgment cannot be considered final as 24 long as a defendant may appeal either the conviction or sentence.” United States v. 25 Colvin, 204 F.3d 1221, 1224 (9th Cir. 2000). It determined that in cases where the 26 appellate court “either partially or wholly reverse[s] a defendant’s conviction or sentence, 27 or both, and expressly remand[s] the case to the trial court . . . . the judgment does not 28 become final, and the statute of limitations does not begin to run, until the [trial court] has 1 entered an amended judgment and the time for appealing that judgment has passed.” Id. 2 at 1225. The Ninth Circuit reasoned that its “clear, easy-to-follow rule” provides several 3 advantages. Id. The rule “ensures that the determination of whether a judgment is final 4 will not turn on an assessment of whether [the court of appeal’s] mandate leaves matters 5 open to the district court.” Id. Further, it avoids litigation over the question of finality 6 and clearly defines the time period in which a suit must be commenced. Id. at 1226. 7 Finally, the rule allows defendants to exhaust their appeals on direct review before 8 bringing collateral attacks. Id. 9 In this case, after the most recent remand from the California Court of Appeal, the 10 trial court’s March 3, 2020 decision that Petitioner’s sentence should remain unchanged 11 was subject to appeal. Accordingly, the trial court’s March 3, 2020 sentencing decision 12 after remand, as well as subsequent appeals of that decision, are relevant to the Court’s 13 determination of the date when Petitioner’s conviction became final. See id. at 1225–26; 14 see also Dragasits v. Covello, Case No.: 3:21-cv-1459-CAB-MDD, 2022 WL 207730, at 15 *3–4 (S.D. Cal. Jan. 24, 2022) (concluding that the trial court’s sentencing decision after 16 remand and subsequent appeals of that decision were relevant to the court’s 17 determination of the date on which petitioner’s conviction became final, where upon 18 remand, the trial court found that the original sentence was appropriate and imposed the 19 same sentence); Jones v. Henry, No. 2:05-cv-1067-GEB-GGH-P, 2007 WL 512422, at *3 20 (E.D. Cal. Feb. 12, 2007) (concluding that the trial court’s sentencing decision after 21 remand refusing to strike petitioner’s prior conviction was relevant for the purposes of 22 determining when the petitioner’s conviction became final; reasoning that the issue of 23 whether the trial court properly refused to exercise its discretion to strike the prior 24 conviction after remand was appealable). 25 Petitioner in this case did not appeal the March 3, 2020 trial court’s sentencing 26 decision. (See ECF No. 11 at 1.) “In California, when a conviction is not appealed, it 27 becomes final sixty days after sentencing.” Heath v. Allison, Case No.: 17cv2226- 28 BAS(RBB), 2018 WL 4282630, at *6 (S.D. Cal. Sept. 6, 2018); Cal. R. Ct. 8.308(a) 1 (“[A] notice of appeal and any statement required by Penal Code section 1237.5 must be 2 filed within 60 days after the rendition of the judgment or the making of the order being 3 appealed.”). Petitioner’s conviction therefore became final sixty days after the March 3, 4 2020 trial court’s sentencing decision, which was May 2, 2020. 5 Petitioner’s statute of limitations for filing a habeas corpus petition in federal court 6 began to run the day after his judgment became final on May 3, 2020. See 28 U.S.C. 7 § 2244(d)(1)(A); see also Patterson, 251 F.3d at 1246 (noting the limitations period 8 begins to run the day after a judgment becomes final). Accordingly, Petitioner had 365 9 days from the finality of judgment, until May 3, 2021, to file his federal habeas petition. 10 Petitioner’s federal Petition, however, was filed on September 15, 2022, which was 500 11 days after the expiration of the one-year statute of limitations. (See Pet.) Accordingly, 12 unless Petitioner is entitled to statutory or equitable tolling, his federal Petition is 13 untimely. 14 C. Statutory Tolling 15 Respondent argues that the federal statute of limitations expired on December 17, 16 2020, before Petitioner filed any of his state habeas petitions, and Petitioner therefore is 17 not entitled to statutory tolling. (Mot. Dismiss at 8–9.) Petitioner disagrees that his 18 statute of limitations expired on December 17, 2020, and contends that he is entitled to 19 statutory tolling because the statute of limitations had not expired before he filed any of 20 his state habeas petitions. (See Opp’n at 11.) 21 The AEDPA tolls the one-year statute of limitations period while “a properly filed 22 application for State post-conviction or other collateral review with respect to the 23 pertinent judgment or claim is pending” in state court. See 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(2). “The 24 time that an application for state postconviction review is ‘pending’ includes the period 25 between (1) a lower court’s adverse determination, and (2) the prisoner’s filing of a 26 notice of appeal, provided that the filing of the notice of appeal is timely under state 27 law.” Evans v. Chavis, 546 U.S. 189, 191 (2006). In California, where habeas decisions 28 are not appealed but may be filed originally in each court, the intervals between the 1 disposition of one state petition and the filing of a further petition may be tolled. See 2 Carey v. Saffold, 536 U.S. 214, 223 (2002). However, a state habeas petition filed after 3 the expiration of the AEDPA’s one-year statute of limitations has no tolling effect. See 4 Ferguson v. Palmateer, 321 F.3d 820, 823 (9th Cir. 2003) (holding that “section 2244(d) 5 does not permit the reinitiation of the limitations period that has ended before the state 6 petition was filed”); Jiminez, 276 F.3d at 482 (finding that the filing a state habeas 7 petition after the federal statute of limitations had expired “resulted in an absolute time 8 bar”). Additionally, the AEDPA’s statute of limitations is “not tolled after state post- 9 conviction proceedings are final and before federal habeas proceedings are initiated.” 10 Roy v. Lampert, 465 F.3d 964, 968 (9th Cir. 2006). 11 Petitioner’s deadline to timely file his federal habeas petition was May 3, 2021. 12 His first state habeas petition was filed on September 30, 2021, which was 150 days after 13 the expiration of the statute of limitations. A state habeas petition filed after the 14 expiration of the AEDPA’s one-year statute of limitations does not toll the statute of 15 limitations. See Ferguson, 321 F.3d at 823; Jiminez, 276 F.3d at 482. 16 Petitioner states that his family hired a paralegal to help with his case, and in April 17 2021, he sent the paralegal his final outline and the chronological history of the case. 18 (Opp’n at 8.) Petitioner submitted a declaration from his brother, Edward Gutierrez, who 19 states that in April 2021, Petitioner “sent the paralegal his final outline of the case and the 20 chronological history,” and “[t]he paralegal filed the case on May 18, 2021.” (Id.; see 21 also ECF No. 1-2 at 7.) After learning that the Superior Court had not received 22 Petitioner’s habeas petition, the paralegal resent the habeas petition to the Superior Court 23 on September 24, 2021. (See Opp’n at 5–6; ECF No. 1-2 at 10, 23.) 24 To the extent Petitioner contends that he is entitled to statutory tolling because he 25 filed his first state habeas corpus petition on May 18, 2021, the United States Supreme 26 Court determined that an application for state post-conviction or other collateral review 27 for purposes of 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(2) is “filed” when “it is delivered to, and accepted 28 by, the appropriate court officer for placement into the official record.” Artuz v. Bennett, 1 531 U.S. 4, 8 (2000). An application is “properly filed” when “its delivery and 2 acceptance are in compliance with the applicable laws and rules governing filings.” Id.; 3 see also Zepeda v. Walker, 581 F.3d 1013, 1016–17 (9th Cir. 2009) (“The only question 4 with which we are concerned is when [petitioner’s] state habeas petition was ‘properly 5 filed,”’ i.e., when that petition complied with all filing conditions imposed by California 6 law.”). As such, Plaintiff’s Superior Court habeas petition was “filed” for purposes of 28 7 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(2) on September 30, 2021.3 See id.; (see also ECF No. 1-2 at 9 8 (containing a letter from the San Diego Superior Court addressed to Petitioner, dated 9 August 16, 2021, stating that his “petition was not received by this court”); Lodgment 5 10 at 2 (containing San Diego Superior Court’s “Order Denying Petitioner for Writ of 11 habeas Corpus,” in which the court stated that “[o]n September 30, 2021, Petitioner filed 12 the present petition for a writ of habeas corpus.”). 13 Additionally, because Petitioner’s subsequent habeas petitions in the California 14 Court of Appeal and the California Supreme Court were filed after the expiration of the 15 federal limitations period, they do not toll the statute of limitations. See Aparicio v. 16 Baker, 544 F. App’x 684, 685 (9th Cir. 2013) (concluding that petitioner’s “untimely 17 second state petition for postconviction relief did not toll the statute of limitations, 18 because the federal limitations period already had expired.”); Ferguson, 321 F.3d at 823 19 (holding that “section 2244(d) does not permit the reinitiation of the limitations period 20 that has ended before the state petition was filed”). Accordingly, Petitioner is not entitled 21 to statutory tolling. See 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(2); Ferguson, 321 F.3d at 823; Jiminez, 276 22 23 24 25 3 A non-prisoner “paralegal” retained by Petitioner’s family sent the habeas petition to the Superior 26 Court, and the “prison mailbox rule” therefore does not apply. See Hernandez, 764 F.3d at 1074–75. Further, even if the Court were to deem Petitioner’s first state habeas petition constructively filed on 27 September 24, 2021, Petitioner would not be entitled to statutory tolling because the constructive filing date would still be 144 days after the May 3, 2021 expiration of the statute of limitations. 28 1 F.3d at 482. Petitioner’s federal Petition therefore is time barred, unless Petitioner can 2 establish that he is entitled to equitable tolling. 3 D. Equitable Tolling 4 Respondent contends that Petitioner has not shown extraordinary circumstances 5 that would warrant equitable tolling sufficient to overcome the federal statute of 6 limitations. (Mot. Dismiss at 10.) Respondent further argues that Petitioner was not 7 diligent because his prison had established protocols for library usage as early as 8 March 23, 2020, and although Petitioner could have accessed the law library and its 9 resources in the early months of the pandemic, he did not do so. (Id.) 10 Petitioner asserts that he is entitled to equitable tolling. (Opp’n at 11–12.) In 11 support, he states that he was “diligent pursuing his criminal convictions,” and 12 “extraordinary circumstances stood in his way since his multiple returns to the trial court 13 and then the March 20, 2020, disaster date of COVID-19.” (Id. at 11.) Petitioner argues 14 that extraordinary circumstances warrant equitable tolling because he had limited access 15 to the law library at his correctional institution because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and 16 he did not have access to his legal materials while he was temporarily housed in a county 17 jail. (See id. at 11–12.) 18 The AEDPA’s one-year statute of limitations may be equitably tolled if a habeas 19 petitioner can establish the following two elements: (1) “[petitioner] has been pursuing 20 his rights diligently,” and (2) “some extraordinary circumstances” prevented timely 21 filing. Holland, 560 U.S. at 649 (quoting Pace, 544 U.S. at 418). Equitable tolling is 22 “unavailable in most cases,” and “the threshold necessary to trigger equitable tolling 23 [under the AEDPA] is very high, lest the exceptions swallow the rule.” Bills v. Clark, 24 628 F.3d 1092, 1097 (9th Cir. 2010) (quoting Miranda v. Castro, 292 F.3d 1063, 1066 25 (9th Cir. 2001)). Equitable tolling of the limitations period requires that the 26 “extraordinary circumstances” beyond a prisoner’s control make it impossible to file a 27 petition on time, rather than petitioner’s oversight, miscalculation or negligence. See 28 Waldron–Ramsey v. Pachoke, 556 F.3d 1008, 1011 (9th Cir. 2009); Harris v. Carter, 515 1 F.3d 1051, 1055 (9th Cir. 2008). A habeas petitioner “must show that he has been 2 reasonably diligent in pursuing his rights not only while an impediment to filing caused 3 by an extraordinary circumstance existed, but before and after as well, up to the time of 4 filing his claim in federal court.” Smith v. Davis, 953 F.3d 582, 598–99 (9th Cir. 2020). 5 The Court first addresses Petitioner’s argument that he is entitled to equitable 6 tolling of the statute of limitations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In its recent 7 decision, the Ninth Circuit found that the COVID-19 pandemic did not give rise to 8 “extraordinary circumstances” that would entitle a habeas petitioner to equitable tolling 9 of his limitations period, where the petitioner “fail[ed] to explain how the pandemic 10 generally had an ‘extraordinary’ influence in [his] ‘particular situation.’” Brown v. 11 Holbrook, 2023 WL 2445685, at *2 (9th Cir. Mar. 10, 2023). “General claims of prison 12 lockdowns and lack of access to the prison law library as a result of the COVID-19 13 pandemic alone are insufficient to amount to ‘extraordinary circumstances’ for equitable 14 tolling purposes,” and a habeas petitioner is required to set forth “fact-specific 15 circumstances related to the pandemic that hindered his ability to timely file a habeas 16 petition.” Valles v. Allison, Case No.: 21-CV-819-GPC-WVG, 2022 WL 3327386, at 17 *4–5 (S.D. Cal. Aug. 11, 2022); see also Cervantes v. Cisneros, Case No. 2:22-cv-00367- 18 SSS-MAA, 2022 WL 4082488, at *5 (C.D. Cal. July 28, 2022) (internal quotations 19 omitted) (“The COVID-19 pandemic, in itself, does not automatically warrant equitable 20 tolling for any petitioner who seeks it on that basis”; rather, a “petitioner must establish 21 that he was pursuing his rights diligently and that the COVID-19 pandemic specifically 22 prevented him from filing his [petition].”). 23 In this case, Petitioner contends that “[b]ecause of COVID-19 prison pandemic, 24 access to the law library and to other resources needed to file a habeas corpus petition 25 were next to nill,” and he was “on lockdown almost the entire time.” (Opp’n at 8.) 26 Although Petitioner generally references prison lookdowns and limited law library access 27 during the COVID-19 pandemic, he does not describe the length of those alleged 28 1 restrictions, when and how he attempted to access the library, and what systems his 2 correctional institution had in place for obtaining legal materials. 3 In support of his Motion to Dismiss, Respondent submitted a declaration from 4 Christina Tejada, a Senior Librarian at the California Institution for Men. (Lodgment 11, 5 Decl. Christina Tejada (“Tejada Decl.”).) Ms. Tejada declares that at the beginning of 6 the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, the California Institution for Men adopted a 7 “modified education, recreation, and law/library services” program. (Id. at 1.) Inmates 8 with “Priority Library User” status4 had physical priority access to the library during 9 open operating hours, and inmates with “General Library User” status had physical 10 access on a first come first serve basis. (Id. at 1–2.) The library was open on Tuesdays, 11 Wednesdays, and Thursdays, from 8:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m., and the modified schedule 12 went into effect on March 23, 2020. (Id. at 2 (citing Exh. 1).) When an inmate was 13 unable to physically access a library because of “prison lockdown, modified program, 14 medical issues, etc.,” the inmate was able to “submit a ‘paging’ request5 through which 15 the library w[ould] provide the inmate with the requested materials.” (Id. (citing Exh. 3).) 16 Ms. Tejada also declares that her search of library records revealed that Petitioner did not 17 make any requests for library access during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. 18 (Id.) In October 6, 2020, and on November 18, 2020, Petitioner made “paging” requests 19 for library materials, and “[o]ther than these two occasions, there were no other 20 21
22 4 Inmates with “Priority Library User” (“PLU”) status are not represented by an attorney, have an 23 established court deadline, and are required to fill out an application applying for PLU status; and inmates who do not qualify for PLU status are able to access the library as “General Library Users.” 24 (Tejada Decl. at 2 (citing Exh. 2).) Notably, “[a]n established court deadline may be either a court- 25 imposed deadline for an active case or a statutory deadline.” (Lodgment 14, Exh. 2 (emphasis added).)
26 5 “Paging” is defined as follows, in relevant part: “When unable to physically access the law library, an inmate may request access to legal material through delivery of those materials to the inmate by library 27 staff. This process is referred to as law library paging.” (Lodgment 14, Exh. 3 at 1.)
28 1 indications [Petitioner] had made any requests for library access or materials.’” (See id.; 2 Exhs. 4–5.) 3 Accordingly, Petitioner’s correctional institution had protocols for library usage 4 during the COVID-19 pandemic as early as March 23, 2020. (See id. at 1–2.) Petitioner 5 has not presented any arguments or documentation showing that he requested, and was 6 denied, access to the law library during the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, even if 7 Petitioner’s physical access to the law library was limited, he was able to make “paging” 8 requests to obtain legal materials, as evidenced by his two requests for legal materials on 9 October 6, 2020, and November 18, 2020, both of which were fulfilled by the prison 10 library. Under these facts, the Court finds that Petitioner has not set forth fact-specific 11 pandemic-related circumstances that hindered his ability to timely file his federal 12 Petition. Petitioner therefore has not met his burden to show that “extraordinary 13 circumstances” of the COVID-19 pandemic prevented timely filing of his federal Petition 14 and that he was diligently pursuing his federal habeas claims during the pandemic. 15 Holland, 560 U.S. at 649 (quoting Pace, 544 U.S. at 418); see also Dones v. Allison, Case 16 No.:22cv282-MMA(BLM), 2022 WL 17979758, at *4–6 (S.D. Cal. Sept. 28, 2022) 17 (finding that petitioner was not entitled to equitable tolling because he “fail[ed] to 18 provide fact-specific pandemic-related circumstances that hindered his ability to file a 19 habeas petition,” where the petitioner “d[id] not explain how his access to the law library 20 was limited, the length of those restrictions, if, when, and how he attempted to access the 21 law library or obtain legal research materials,” as well as how the “lack of access to the 22 library, phone calls, and standard mail impeded his ability to timely file his petition, or 23 what systems were in place for obtaining legal materials such as a library paging system 24 and if he tried to utilize those systems or why those systems were insufficient.”); 25 Cervantes, 2022 WL 4082488, at *3, *6 (finding that petitioner was not reasonably 26 diligent in pursuing his federal habeas claims throughout the limitations period; citing the 27 declaration from the prison records custodian that showed that the petitioner had not 28 requested access to the prison law library during the relevant time period); Shepherd v. 1 Asuncion, No. 21-cv-4147-JWH-E, 2021 WL 6496744, at *9–10 (C.D. Cal. Nov. 3, 2 2021) (finding that petitioner was not entitled to equitable tolling during alleged “total 3 lockdown” due to COVID-19 between March 2020 and August 2020, where the 4 petitioner did “not allege that he attempted to obtain legal materials from the library, 5 either before or during the lockdown”). 6 The Court next addresses Petitioner’s argument that extraordinary circumstances 7 warrant equitable tolling in this case because he did not have access to legal materials 8 while he was temporarily housed in a county jail. Specifically, Petitioner states that 9 between January 2020, and March 2020, he was transferred to the county jail where he 10 “had no access to his legal materials.” (Opp’n at 8, 10.) 11 The declaration from Ms. Tejada establishes that Petitioner was not housed at the 12 California Institution for Men between January 16, 2020, and March 23, 2020, because of 13 court proceedings. (Tejada Decl. at 2.) Equitable tolling may be available where prison 14 officials deprived a federal habeas petitioner of access to his legal documents for a certain 15 period of time. See Lott v. Mueller, 304 F.3d 918, 925 (9th Cir. 2002). In Lott, the 16 appellate court found that a prisoner’s temporary transfers to appear in court on an 17 unrelated civil matter, which resulted in loss of access to legal materials for 82 days, 18 during a time when “there were some obvious questions about the proper method under 19 the AEDPA for tolling during the pendency of [his] petition before the California 20 Supreme Court . . . . appear to satisfy the ‘extraordinary circumstances’ requirement for 21 equitable tolling.” Id. at 924; see also Waldron–Ramsey, 556 F.3d at 1013 (“Deprivation 22 of legal materials is the type of external impediment for which [the Ninth Circuit Court of 23 Appeals has] granted equitable tolling.”). In this case, Petitioner does not describe any 24 jail-specific policies that prevented him from obtaining legal materials, and does not 25 allege that he requested and was denied access to legal materials during this time in 26 country jail. Petitioner’s transfer to county jail lasted 67 days. Because his federal 27 28 1 Petition was filed 500 days after the expiration of statute of limitations, 67 days of 2 equitable tolling will not render the Petition timely.6 As a result, the Petition is untimely. 3 E. Actual Innocence Exception 4 Petitioner appears to argue that he has provided new reliable evidence in his 5 exhibits and declarations that “cast reasonable doubt on the proceedings.” (Opp’n at 9– 6 10.) In support, Petitioner states that his “brothers declare how the trial attorney was 7 ineffective and bias[ed] against the case.” (Id.) Respondent does not address Petitioner’s 8 actual innocence claim in the Motion to Dismiss. (See Mot. Dismiss.) 9 A credible claim of “actual innocence” may overcome the AEDPA’s limitations 10 period. See McQuiggin v. Perkins, 569 U.S. 383, 386 (2013); Lee v. Lampert, 653 F.3d 11 929, 932 (9th Cir. 2011) (holding that a “credible claim of actual innocence constitutes an 12 equitable exception to AEDPA’s limitations period”). A habeas petitioner must offer 13 “new reliable evidence—whether it be exculpatory scientific evidence, trustworthy 14 eyewitness accounts, or critical physical evidence—that was not presented at trial.” 15 Schlup v. Delo, 513 U.S. 298, 324 (1995). The evidence must be factual and indicate 16 actual innocence, “as opposed to legal innocence as a result of legal error.” Gandarela v. 17 Johnson, 286 F.3d 1080, 1085 (9th Cir. 2001). A petitioner “must show that, in light of 18 all the evidence, including evidence not introduced at trial, ‘it is more likely than not that 19 no reasonable juror would have found petitioner guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.” 20
21 22 6 The Court also notes that Petitioner is not entitled to equitable tolling of the statute of limitations based on his “paralegal’s” failure to properly file his first state habeas petition. See Lawrence v. Florida, 23 549 U.S. 327, 336–37 (2007) (“[A]ttorney miscalculation is simply not sufficient to warrant equitable tolling, particularly in the postconviction context where prisoners have no constitutional right to 24 counsel.”); Miranda v. Castro, 292 F.3d 1063, 1066–68 (9th Cir. 2001) (finding that counsel’s 25 miscalculation and negligence in general do not constitute “extraordinary circumstances” sufficient to warrant equitable tolling); see also Reyes–Carreon v. Williams, 399 F. App’x 226 (9th Cir. 2010) 26 (affirming dismissal of petition as untimely despite petitioner’s contention that he relied on incorrect advice from an “assistant” in his prison law library); Alexander v. Schriro, 312 F. App’x 972, 975 (9th 27 Cir. 2009) (holding that incorrect legal advice given by a prison paralegal in calculating the limitations period does not constitute extraordinary circumstances justifying equitable tolling). 28 1 Majoy v. Roe, 296 F.3d 770, 776 (9th Cir. 2002) (quoting Schlup, 513 U.S. at 327). 2 Review is permitted only in “extraordinary” cases. Schlup, 513 U.S. at 327 (emphasizing 3 that claims of actual innocence are rarely successful). 4 In support of his actual innocence claim, Petitioner cites two declarations from his 5 brothers, Daniel Gutierrez and Edward Gutierrez. (See Opp’n at 2–6, 8–9; ECF No. 1-2 6 at 22–23.) In his declaration, Daniel Gutierrez describes his interactions with Petitioner’s 7 trial counsel, Karen Hirr, and specifically, his disagreement with Ms. Hirr’s decision not 8 to call him as a witness at Petitioner’s trial. (Opp’n at 2.) He states that he was “an 9 expert witness concerning the dates, times, location and the warehouse layout” who 10 should have testified at trial to undermine the victim’s testimony regarding the time and 11 place of the crimes that Petitioner was convicted of. (Id. at 3.) Further, Petitioner’s 12 brother Edward Gutierrez states in his declaration that the family was “not happy” with 13 Ms. Hirr because she “wanted [Petitioner] to plead guilty.” (Id. at 4.) He also states that 14 Ms. Hirr’s assistant strongly encouraged Petitioner to “take the . . . deal,” and the family 15 eventually terminated Ms. Hirr’s services. (Id.)7 16 Petitioner has not provided “exculpatory scientific evidence, trustworthy 17 eyewitness accounts or critical physical evidence” contemplated by Schlup. See Schlup, 18 513 U.S. at 324. Petitioner had firsthand knowledge of his trial counsel’s decision not to 19 call certain witnesses at trial, including his brother Daniel Gutierrez, or any other 20 instances of the trial counsel’s alleged deficient performance, before his conviction 21 became final. The declarations from Petitioner’s brothers do not contain any new 22 evidence that was not available during Petitioner’s trial. As Petitioner’s brother Daniel 23 Gutierrez himself declares, the information about dates, times, location, and the layout of 24 25 7 The Court notes that in his Opposition to Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss, Petitioner “incorporates by 26 reference the facts and declarations in the Petition.” (Opp’n at 9 n.1.) Petitioner’s Petition contains sections entitled “Additional Facts,” “Additional Exhibits,” and “Letters to Trial Counsel.” (Pet. at 12– 27 16.) The identical sections were included in Petitioner’s habeas petitions filed in the San Diego Superior Court, (see Lodgment 4 at 7–11), and the California Court of Appeal, (see Lodgment 6 at 7–11). Both 28 1 the warehouse was made available to Petitioner’s trial counsel before the conclusion of 2 Petitioner’s trial. Further, the information does not establish Petitioner’s innocence, only 3 his version of events, and is not sufficient to show that “it is more likely than not that no 4 reasonable juror would have found petitioner guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.” See id. 5 at 327. Accordingly, Petitioner is not entitled to a tolling of the AEDPA statute of 6 limitations based on his assertion of actual innocence. See Dones v. Allison, Case 7 No.:22cv282-MMA(BLM), 2022 WL 17979758, at *14 (S.D. Cal. Dec. 18, 2022) 8 (finding that petitioner failed to provide new and reliable evidence in support of his actual 9 innocence claim, where the evidence at issue merely represented petitioner’s version of 10 events, and the evidence was made available to petitioner’s trial counsel and could have 11 been discovered before petitioner’s guilty plea). 12 The Court therefore RECOMMENDS that Respondent’s Motion to Dismiss the 13 Petition be GRANTED, and that Petitioner’s Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus 14 be DISMISSED with prejudice. 15 III. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 16 For the foregoing reasons, IT IS HEREBY RECOMMENDED that the District 17 Judge issue an order: (1) approving and adopting this Report and Recommendation, 18 (2) finding that the Petition is not timely, and (3) directing that Judgment be entered 19 GRANTING Respondent’s Motion to Dismiss with prejudice. 20 IT IS ORDERED that no later than June 9, 2023, any party to this action may file 21 written objections with the Court and serve a copy on all parties. The document should 22 be captioned “Objections to Report and Recommendation.” 23 / / / 24 / / / 25 / / / 26 / / / 27 / / / 28 / / / 1 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that any reply to the objections shall be filed with 2 ||the Court and served on all parties no later than June 16, 2023. The parties are advised 3 || that failure to file objections within the specified time may waive the right to raise those 4 objections on appeal of the Court’s order. See Turner v. Duncan, 158 F.3d 449, 455 (9th 5 || Cir. 1998). 6 IT IS SO ORDERED. 7 Dated: May 9, 2023 8 LY 10 Honorable Lupe Rodriguez, Jr. 11 United States Magistrate Judge 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28