Whalen v. Randle

37 F. App'x 113
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedMarch 12, 2002
DocketNo. 00-4462
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 37 F. App'x 113 (Whalen v. Randle) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Whalen v. Randle, 37 F. App'x 113 (6th Cir. 2002).

Opinion

OPINION

COLE, Circuit Judge.

This action stems from a petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 that was filed outside of the one-year statute of limitations established under § 2244(d)(1). Petitioner-Appellant, David M. Whalen, argues that he should not be barred by the one-year statute of limitations because of tolling during his state and federal appeals, tolling after his discovery of new evidence, equitable tolling because of inaccurate advice given by the Ohio State Public Defender’s office, and an actual innocence claim. Whalen now appeals from the district court’s denial of his § 2254 habeas claims because they are time-barred.

This appeal presents six issues for our review: (1) Whether the district court properly excluded Petitioner’s unsuccessful motion for delayed appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court from the direct review process under 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(1)(A), making it ineligible for tolling of the one-year statute of limitations; (2) Whether the district court properly excluded the ninety-day period following the Ohio Supreme Court’s ruling so that Petitioner would be able to file for a writ of certiorari in the United States Supreme Court; (3) Whether the district court properly refused to toll the beginning of the one-year statute of limitations under § 2244(d)(1)(D) until August 13, 1996, the date Petitioner claims a new factual predicate for his claims was discovered; (4) Whether the district court properly denied Petitioner’s request for equitable tolling of § 2244(d)(l)’s statute of limitations period because the Ohio Public Defenders Office gave him incorrect information about the filing deadline for his § 2254 motion; (5) Whether the district court properly denied Petitioner’s claim that he should be exempt from any statute of limitation under § 2244(d)(1) because he is actually innocent; and (6) Whether the district court properly concluded that Petitioner was outside of the one year statute of limitations for motions brought under § 2244(d)(1)(A).

We reject Whalen’s argument that his one-year limitation period started with the finding of new evidence under 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(1)(D). Instead, his one-year limitation period began on “the date on which the judgment became final by the conclusion of direct review or the expiration of the time for seeking such review” under § 2244(d)(1)(A). Finding that Whalen has not shown reason he should be excused from the one-year limitation period on equitable tolling principles or on a showing of “actual innocence,” we AFFIRM the district court’s grant of the [116]*116Respondent’s motion to dismiss Whalen’s habeas petition.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Factual Background

On July 4, 1991, two men robbed a convenience store in Cheviot, Ohio. Three days later, on July 7, 1991, two men robbed a drug store in the Sharonville neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. In both robberies one of the suspects was carrying a gun. Petitioner David Whalen was convicted in the Common Pleas Court of Hamilton County, Ohio on April 19, 1993, of two counts of aggravated robbery, three counts of robbery, and one count of theft. Following the trial, Whalen claims to have obtained new evidence validating his claims of innocence. This includes testimony by Martin Troné, identified by store employees as the other participant in the robberies, that his accomplice had been a man named Troy Hughes and not Whalen. Whalen also obtained an affidavit by Carol Ann Holthaus — a witness to the acts in question — regarding several instances where the prosecutor in the state trial had improperly taken witnesses to see Whalen for later identification purposes, and an affidavit by Troné that he had not used an operable firearm under Ohio law as required for the conviction. Finally, on August 13, 1996, Whalen received a supplemental report from the City of Cheviot Police Department that had never been turned over to the defense. Whalen claims it contained interviews of James Denny — a mutual friend of Whalen and Troné — and Troy Hughes that would have vindicated him by implicating Hughes in the robberies.

B. Procedural History

After his state court conviction, Petitioner appealed to the Ohio Court of Appeals for the First District, which affirmed his conviction on September 7, 1994. He next appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court on October 21, 1994. The appeal was rejected on technical grounds for exceeding a page limitation. Petitioner next filed a motion for leave to filed a delayed appeal with the Ohio Supreme Court, but this was denied on December 7,1994.

Petitioner next attempted to reopen his appeal in the intermediate appellate state court under Ohio Appellate Rule 26(B)(1) on June 19, 1995. The Ohio Court of Appeals denied this application on August 16, 1995. Petitioner then appealed this denial to the Ohio Supreme Court on November 6,1995, and the appeal was denied on February 28,1996. No petition for writ of certiorari was filed with the United States Supreme Court.

On September 19, 1996, Petitioner filed a new petition for post-conviction relief under Ohio Rev.Code Ann. § 2953.21 with the Hamilton County Common Pleas Court. The basis for the motion was that he had allegedly discovered new evidence after trial. The Common Pleas Court denied the motion in part because it was barred by res judicata. The Ohio Court of Appeals affirmed this judgment on February 20-, 1998, and the Ohio Supreme Court dismissed the appeal on May 20, 1998. Petitioner filed no petition for writ of certiorari with the United States Supreme Court.

Petitioner next filed a petition for habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 with the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio on March 1, 1999. The district court ruled that the petition was filed outside of the one year time period established in 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(1), and dismissed the petition on April 19, 2000. The district court also issued a certificate of appealability on the issue of whether the habeas corpus peti[117]*117tion was time-barred under 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d). Whalen then filed a timely notice of appeal of the district court’s decision on May 17, 2000.

II. DISCUSSION

Petitioner David Whalen filed his petition for habeas corpus on March 1, 1999. Chapter 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(1)(A) provides for a one-year statute of limitations for habeas claims after the date on which the judgment became final by the conclusion of direct review, or for a one-year grace period after the April 24,1996 enactment of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (“AEDPA”), Pub.L. No. 104-132, 110 Stat. 1214, if the judgment became final before the passage of AEDPA. See Austin v. Mitchell,

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Bluebook (online)
37 F. App'x 113, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/whalen-v-randle-ca6-2002.