Neal v. Secretary, Department of Corrections

271 F. App'x 893
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedMarch 28, 2008
Docket07-10272
StatusUnpublished

This text of 271 F. App'x 893 (Neal v. Secretary, Department of Corrections) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Neal v. Secretary, Department of Corrections, 271 F. App'x 893 (11th Cir. 2008).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Ricky Tyrone Neal, a Florida state prisoner represented by counsel, appeals the district court’s denial of his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition. We granted a certificate of appealability (“COA”) on the following issues: (1) Whether the district court erred in finding that Neal was not entitled to tolling under 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(2) while his motion for rehearing of the order denying his second Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.850 motion was pending where the state court concluded that the motion for rehearing was untimely filed, Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.850(g); (2) Whether the district court erred in finding that Neal was not entitled to tolling under 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(2) while the appeal of the order denying his second Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.850 motion was pending where the state court concluded that the appeal was untimely; (3) Whether Neal was entitled to statutory tolling under 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(2) while the petition for a belated appeal of his second Rule 3.850 motion was pending; (4) Whether the district court erroneously granted statutory tolling under 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(2) for the time during which appellant’s first Fla. R.Crim.P. 3.850 motion was pending in light of Hurley v. Moore, 233 F.3d 1295, 1298 (11th Cir.2000); (5) Whether the district court erred in failing to address Neal’s argument that he was entitled to equitable tolling while his first Fla. R.Crim.P. 3.850 motion was pending.

Regarding the first issue, Neal argues that the district court erred by relying on the Florida Fifth District Court of Appeals’ erroneous decision because that state court incorrectly concluded that the motion for rehearing of the order denying Neal’s second Rule 3.850 motion was not timely filed.

We review de novo a district court’s determination that a petition for federal habeas corpus relief is time-barred under 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d). Bond v. Moore, 309 F.3d 770, 772 (11th Cir.2002). We will not consider issues and arguments raised for the first time on appeal. Nyland v. Moore, 216 F.3d 1264, 1265 (11th Cir. 2000).

Neal filed his § 2254 petition after the effective date of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (“AED-PA”), Pub.L. No. 104-132, 110 Stat. 1214 (1996), and the provisions of that act govern this appeal. The AEDPA imposes a one-year statute of limitations for filing a § 2254 petition, which begins to run following one of four triggering events. Chavers v. Fla. Dep’t of Corr., 468 F.3d 1273, 1274-75 (11th Cir.2006). The relevant triggering event here is the date on which Neal’s conviction became final “by the conclusion of direct review or the expi *895 ration of the time for seeking such review.” 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(1)(A).

The statute of limitation can be tolled, as provided in 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(2): “The 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 shall not be counted toward any period of limitation under this subsection.” Thus, in order to toll the limitations period, a filing must be (1) an “application for State post-conviction or collateral review” (2) that was “properly filed.” If these two requirements are met, the filing tolls the limitations period while it is (8) “pending.”

The United States Supreme Court defined “properly filed” in § 2244(d)(2) in Artuz v. Bennett, 581 U.S. 4,121 S.Ct. 361, 148 L.Ed.2d 213 (2000). In Artuz, the Supreme Court held that an application is: (1) “filed” when it is delivered to, and accepted by, the appropriate court officer for placement in the official record; and (2) “ ‘properly filed’ when its delivery and acceptance are in compliance with the applicable laws and rules governing filings.” Id. at 8, 121 S.Ct. at 363-64. Laws and rules governing filings include those prescribing the form of the document, time limits, the court and office for filing, filing fees, and other preconditions imposed on filers. Id. The Supreme Court made clear that whether an application was “properly filed” was distinct from the question of whether the claims contained in the application were meritorious and free of any procedural bar. Id. at 9, 121 S.Ct. at 364. Further, the Supreme Court has made clear that a post-conviction petition that is dismissed as untimely under state law is not “properly filed,” and thus does not toll the statute of limitations. Pace v. DiGuglielmo, 544 U.S. 408, 417, 125 S.Ct. 1807, 1814, 161 L.Ed.2d 669 (2005).

The Florida District Court of Appeal’s determination that Neal’s motion for rehearing was untimely is given due deference from us. See Stafford v. Thompson, 328 F.3d 1302, 1305 (11th Cir.2003) (citation omitted) (holding that “this Court must give ‘due deference’ to [a] procedural determination by the Georgia Supreme Court. Thus, we are bound by the state court’s determination that the appeal was untimely.”). The exception to this deference is where a state’s procedural rule is not “firmly established and regularly followed.” See Siebert v. Campbell, 334 F.3d 1018, 1025 (11th Cir.2003) (holding that “a rule governing filings must be ‘firmly established and regularly followed’ before noncompliance will render a petition improperly filed for the purpose of AEDPA’s tolling provision.”).

Because the district court properly gave due deference to the state court’s procedural determination, the district court did not err in finding that Neal was not entitled to tolling under 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(2) while his motion for rehearing of the order denying his second Fla. R.Crim.P. 3.850 motion was pending. The state court held that Neal’s motion for rehearing was untimely.

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Related

Sandvik v. United States
177 F.3d 1269 (Eleventh Circuit, 1999)
Webster v. Moore
199 F.3d 1256 (Eleventh Circuit, 2000)
Nyland v. Moore
216 F.3d 1264 (Eleventh Circuit, 2000)
Carl D. Bond v. Michael W. Moore
309 F.3d 770 (Eleventh Circuit, 2002)
Daniel Siebert v. Donal Campbell
334 F.3d 1018 (Eleventh Circuit, 2003)
Chavers v. Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections
468 F.3d 1273 (Eleventh Circuit, 2006)
Artuz v. Bennett
531 U.S. 4 (Supreme Court, 2000)
Pace v. DiGuglielmo
544 U.S. 408 (Supreme Court, 2005)
Neal v. State
915 So. 2d 746 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2005)

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Bluebook (online)
271 F. App'x 893, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/neal-v-secretary-department-of-corrections-ca11-2008.