Murphy v. Warden of Attica Correctional Facility

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedMay 15, 2020
Docket1:20-cv-03076
StatusUnknown

This text of Murphy v. Warden of Attica Correctional Facility (Murphy v. Warden of Attica Correctional Facility) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Murphy v. Warden of Attica Correctional Facility, (S.D.N.Y. 2020).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK DONELLE MURPHY, Petitioner, 20-CV-3076 (LLS) -against- ORDER WARDEN OF ATTICA CORRECTIONAL FACILITY, Respondent. LOUIS L. STANTON, United States District Judge: Petitioner, currently incarcerated in Attica Correctional Facility, filed this pro se letter seeking an extension or “stay of abeyance” to file a petition for a writ of habeas corpus to challenge his New York County conviction. Petitioner also asks the Court to appoint him counsel to assist him in challenging his conviction. Because Petitioner has not filed a petition for habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, and because the Court lacks jurisdiction to grant an extension or stay with regards to a petition that has not been filed, the Court grants Petitioner leave to file a petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 and an application to proceed in forma pauperis (“IFP”) before the statute of limitations period expires on June 25, 2020. STANDARD OF REVIEW The Court may entertain a petition for a writ of habeas corpus on “behalf of a person in custody pursuant to the judgment of a State court only on the ground that he is custody in violation of the Constitution or laws or treaties of the United States.” 28 U.S.C. § 2254(a). Under Rule 4 of the Rules Governing § 2254 Cases, the Court has the authority to review and dismiss a § 2254 petition without ordering a responsive pleading from the state “[i]f it plainly appears from the petition and any attached exhibits that the petitioner is not entitled to relief in the district court.” Rules Governing § 2254 Cases, Rule 4; see Acosta v. Nunez, 221 F.3d 117, 123 (2d Cir. 2000). The Court is obliged to construe pro se pleadings liberally and interpret them “to raise the strongest arguments they suggest.” Triestman v. Fed. Bureau of Prisons, 470 F.3d 471, 474 (2d Cir. 2006) (citations omitted) (emphasis in original); see Green v. United States, 260 F.3d 78, 83 (2d Cir. 2001). Nevertheless, a pro se litigant is not exempt “from compliance with relevant rules of procedural and substantive law.” Tragath v. Zuck, 710 F.2d 90, 95 (2d Cir. 1983).

BACKGROUND Petitioner submits a letter in which he requests an extension or a “stay of abeyance” to file his federal habeas petition because he has additional grounds for relief that he needs to exhaust in the state courts, and he has been unable to get regular access to the facility’s law library due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He states that he is in the process of submitting a motion under New York Criminal Procedure Law (“C.P.L.”) § 440.10 and an error coram nobis motion in the state court so that he may “preserve [his] ineffective trial and appellate counsel claims, as well as the trial court’s abuse of discretion and error of law.” (ECF No. 1, at 2.) He indicates that he has completed “most of the [federal habeas] petition” form, but he is not sure how to answer the questions on the petition form “pertaining to arguments/grounds raised.” (Id. at 1.) Petitioner

also asks the Court to assign pro bono counsel to assist him with his challenge to his conviction. Publicly available records indicate that in a judgment rendered June 18, 2015, a New York Supreme Court, New York County jury convicted Petitioner of burglary in the second degree, attempted rape in the first degree, and sexual abuse in the first degree. People v. Murphy, 168 A.D.3d 632 (1st Dep’t 2019). The trial court sentenced Petitioner as a second violent felony offender to an aggregate term of 15 years’ imprisonment. Id. Petitioner filed a postconviction motion under C.P.L. § 440.10, asserting that his defense counsel was ineffective. The trial court denied that motion on January 16, 2018. People v. Murphy, 2018 N.Y. Slip Op. 33509(U), 2018 WL 7919035 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. N.Y. Cnty. Jan. 16, 2018). The Appellate Division, First Department, consolidated Petitioner’s direct appeal and his § 440.10 appeal, and affirmed Petitioner’s conviction and the trial court’s rejection of his C.P.L § 440.10 motion. Murphy, 168 A.D.3d at 632. On March 26, 2019, the New York State Court of Appeals denied Petitioner leave to appeal. People v. Murphy, 33 N.Y.3d 952 (Mar. 26, 2019). DISCUSSION

A petition for a writ of habeas corpus brought under § 2254 is the proper vehicle for a petitioner to challenge “the judgment of a State court . . . on the ground that he is in custody in violation of the Constitution or laws or treaties of the United States.” 28 U.S.C. § 2254. A state prisoner must exhaust all available state remedies before filing a § 2254 petition. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(b); see Rose v. Lundy, 455 U.S. 509, 510 (1982). A petitioner may satisfy the exhaustion requirement by fairly presenting his claims through a state’s established appellate review process. O’Sullivan v. Boerckel, 526 U.S. 838, 844-45 (1999). Should a petitioner raise for habeas corpus relief any grounds raised in N.Y. Crim. P. L. § 440.10 motions and/or other collateral motions, he must show that those grounds have been completely exhausted by seeking leave to appeal to the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division. Ramos v. Walker, 88

F. Supp. 2d 233 (S.D.N.Y. 2000). A petitioner generally must file his § 2254 petition within one year from the date his judgment of conviction becomes final. See 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d). Generally, a judgment of conviction becomes final following “the expiration of [the] 90-day period of time to petition for certiorari in the Supreme Court of the United States.” Warren v. Garvin, 219 F.3d 111, 112 (2d Cir. 2000). The limitations period to file a petition is tolled, however, for “[t]he time during which a properly filed application for State post-conviction or other collateral review with respect to the pertinent judgment or claim is pending” in the state courts. 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(2). Here, the Court of Appeals denied Petitioner leave to appeal on March 26, 2019. His conviction became final 90 days later, that is, on June 25, 2019. Absent any statutory tolling, Petitioner’s time to file a § 2254 petition expires one year from the date that his conviction became final, that is, on June 25, 2020.1 Petitioner seeks an extension of time or “stay of abeyance” to file his § 2254 petition

because he has additional claims that he needs to exhaust in the state courts. But this Court lacks jurisdiction to grant an extension or to stay a petition until the petition has been filed. See Green, 260 F.3d at 82; Alvarez v. Doe, No. 19-CV-9003, 2019 WL 5205595, at *3 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 11, 2019) (“Because Petitioner has not yet filed any petition[] under 28 U.S.C.

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Related

Rose v. Lundy
455 U.S. 509 (Supreme Court, 1982)
Houston v. Lack
487 U.S. 266 (Supreme Court, 1988)
O'Sullivan v. Boerckel
526 U.S. 838 (Supreme Court, 1999)
Rhines v. Weber
544 U.S. 269 (Supreme Court, 2005)
Victor Zarvela v. Christopher Artuz, Superintendent
254 F.3d 374 (Second Circuit, 2001)
Ramos v. Walker
88 F. Supp. 2d 233 (S.D. New York, 2000)

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Murphy v. Warden of Attica Correctional Facility, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/murphy-v-warden-of-attica-correctional-facility-nysd-2020.