Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-azd-2_11-cv-00061/USCOURTS-azd-2_11-cv-00061-1/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 510
Nature of Suit: Prisoner Petitions - Vacate Sentence
Cause of Action: 28:2255 Motion to Vacate / Correct Illegal Sentence

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

United States of America, 

Plaintiff/Respondent, 

vs.

Jesse Rothchild Moore, 

Defendant/Movant. 

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No. CV 11-0061-PHX-JAT (MEA)

No. CR-03-0764-PHX-JAT

ORDER

Pending before the Court is Defendant’s motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (Supp. 2011)

to vacate, set aside, or correct his sentence (Doc. 1). This case was referred to a magistrate

judge, who issued a Report and Recommendation (Doc. 8) recommending this Court find that

the Motion in this case is both barred by the statute of limitations and waived pursuant to §

2255 in the written plea agreement.

In reviewing a Report and Recommendation (“R&R”), this Court must conduct a de

novo review of any portion of the R&R to which either party objects. United States v.

Reyna-Tapia, 328 F.3d 1114, 1121 (9th Cir. 2003) (en banc). Although Plaintiff does not

raise any particular or cognizable objections in his filed Objection (Doc. 9), the Court will

review the Motion de novo.

The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (“AEDPA”) provides a one-year

statute of limitations for defendants to file habeas petitions, starting when their convictions

become final. 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d) (2006). “The Supreme Court has held that a conviction

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Defendant took a direct appeal of his 2005 conviction, which was reversed and

remanded by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2006, but he did not do so for his 2008

conviction.

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is final in the context of a habeas review when ‘a judgment of conviction has been rendered,

the availability of appeal exhausted, and the time for a petition for certiorari elapsed or a

petition of certiorari finally denied.’” United States v. Schwartz, 274 F.3d 1220, 1223 (9th

Cir. 2001) (quoting Griffith v. Kentucky, 479 U.S. 314, 321 n.6 (1987)). For cases in which

the defendant does not file a direct appeal, the conviction becomes final fourteen days after

judgment is entered. See Schwartz, 274 F.3d at 1224 n.1; United States v. Garcia, 210 F.3d

1058, 1060–61 (9th Cir. 2000).

In this case, judgment was entered on June 26, 2008. Defendant did not take a direct

appeal.1

 Thus the conviction and sentence became final fourteen days later on July 10, 2008.

The statute of limitations expired one year later on July 11, 2009. Accordingly, the Motion

filed January 7, 2011, was filed more than one year after the statute of limitations expired and

may be dismissed.

Equitable tolling is available when a movant has been pursing his rights diligently and

some extraordinary circumstance prevented timely filing. See, e.g., United States v. Buckles,

No. 08-36031, 2011 WL 2150992, at *5 (9th Cir. 2011) (holding that the movant was not

entitled to equitable tolling notwithstanding his counsel’s alleged misconduct, because it had

“no effect” on the timeliness of his motion). Here, again, Defendant’s conviction became

final in July 2008. Defendant did not file this Motion until January 2011. After the

Government’s motion to dismiss Defendant’s Motion, Defendant filed a response (Doc. 5).

In it, he asserts that the Court did not ensure there was a factual basis for his guilty plea or

place him under oath before the plea colloquy. Even assuming arguendo these facts are both

true, neither qualifies as an extraordinary circumstance that would prevent a timely filing.

This Court agrees with the R&R that Defendant has presented no evidence that an

extraordinary circumstance stood in his way from 2009 (when the statute of limitations

expired) to 2011 (when Defendant took any action on his case). Accordingly, having

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considered equitable tolling, the Court continues to find the Motion untimely.

Because the statute of limitations bars Defendant’s Motion, the Court need not reach

the R&R’s second basis for denying Defendant’s Motion—that Defendant waived his right

to a collateral attack in his plea agreement.

Based on the foregoing,

IT IS ORDERED that the Report and Recommendation (Doc. 8) is accepted and

adopted; Plaintiff’s motion to dismiss (Doc. 4) is granted; Defendant’s objections (Doc. 9)

are overruled; his motion to vacate, set aside, or correct his sentence (Doc. 1) is denied and

dismissed with prejudice; and the Clerk of the Court shall enter judgment accordingly.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that pursuant to Rule 11 of the Rules Governing

Section 2255 Proceedings, in the event Defendant files an appeal, the Court denies issuance

of a certificate of appealability, because dismissal of the motion is based on a plain

procedural bar, and jurists of reason would not find this Court’s procedural ruling debatable.

See Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 484 (2000).

DATED this 1st day of August, 2011.

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