Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ared-5_15-cv-00285/USCOURTS-ared-5_15-cv-00285-3/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Louis Ricardo Butler
Plaintiff
Wendy Kelley
Defendant

Document Text:

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

EASTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS 

PINE BLUFF DIVISION 

LOUIS RICARDO BUTLER PETITIONER 

v. No. 5:15-cv-285-DPM 

WENDY KELLEY, Director of the 

Arkansas Department of Correction 

ORDER 

RESPONDENT 

The Court concluded that the year-long gap between the Arkansas 

Supreme Court's decision on Butler's Rule 37 appeal and the filing of his 

federal habeas petition precluded a diligence finding. NQ 22. Butler's habeas 

lawyer now falls on his sword, saying the gap was his fault, not a reflection 

of Butler's diligence. He documents many contacts with Butler and his family 

during the relevant year. The equitable-tolling cases are strict, though. And 

a lawyer's miscalculating the limitations period "is simply not sufficient to 

warrant equitable tolling." Lawrence v. Florida, 549 U.S. 327, 336-37 (2007). 

Butler's motion to vacate the judgment, NQ 24, is therefore denied. 

So Ordered. 

</ 

D.P. Marshall Jr. 

United States District Judge 

Case 5:15-cv-00285-DPM Document 25 Filed 12/20/16 Page 1 of 1