United States Court of Appeals

for the Fifth Circuit

No. 18-40790

United States of America, 

Plaintiff—Appellee,

versus

Julio Cesar Cardenas, 

Defendant—Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Southern District of Texas

USDC No. 1:16-cv-00306

Before Jolly, Duncan, and Oldham, Circuit Judges.

Andrew S. Oldham, Circuit Judge:

The question presented is whether Julio Cardenas timely filed a 

motion to vacate his sentence under 28 U.S.C. § 2255. The district court held 

the motion was time-barred by the one-year limitations period in the AntiTerrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (“AEDPA”). We affirm.

I.

The Government charged Julio Cardenas with various firearms and 

controlled-substance offenses. A jury found Cardenas guilty on all charges. 

The district court sentenced him to life imprisonment. 

United States Court of Appeals

Fifth Circuit

FILED

September 7, 2021

Lyle W. Cayce

Clerk

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Cardenas appealed. We affirmed. See United States v. Cardenas, 606 

F. App’x 246, 247 (5th Cir. 2015) (per curiam). The Supreme Court denied 

certiorari on October 19, 2015, see Cardenas v. United States, 577 U.S. 945 

(2015) (mem.), then denied rehearing on December 7, 2015, see 577 U.S. 1045 

(2015) (mem.).

Cardenas (through counsel) then sought post-conviction relief. On 

December 4, 2016, he filed a motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255(a) seeking to 

vacate his conviction and sentence. Cardenas raised two arguments. First, he 

argued that the prosecuting attorney in his case had a conflict of interest. 

According to Cardenas, “[t]he Supreme Court’s decision in Young [v. United 

States ex rel. Vuitton et Fils S.A., 481 U.S. 787 (1987),] categorically forbids an 

interested person from controlling the defendant’s prosecution.” Second, 

Cardenas argued his counsel was ineffective for failing to object to the 

conflict of interest. 

The Government moved to dismiss. It argued Cardenas’s motion 

failed to comply with AEDPA’s one-year limitations period, set forth in 28 

U.S.C. § 2255(f). Specifically, the Government noted Cardenas’s conviction 

became final on October 19, 2015, the day the Supreme Court denied his 

petition for writ of certiorari. The one-year limitations period of 28 U.S.C. 

§ 2255 thus expired on October 18, 2016. And Cardenas filed his motion for 

relief under § 2255 on December 4, 2016, roughly 46 days after the 

limitations period expired. The Government further argued there was no 

basis to equitably toll the limitations period, and alternatively, that 

Cardenas’s motion did not warrant relief on the merits.

Several months later, Cardenas’s post-conviction counsel (William 

Mallory Kent) filed a motion to withdraw and took responsibility for the 

untimely filing. Kent had erroneously believed that a petition for rehearing 

on denial of certiorari tolled the statute of limitations. According to Kent, 

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“Mr. Cardenas was concerned that we had missed the deadline and I assured 

him we had not.” Because of his mistake, and the failing health of his wife, 

Kent asked the court for leave to withdraw. A magistrate judge granted the 

motion. 

Cardenas(through new counsel)filed a response to the Government’s 

motion to dismiss. He argued equitable tolling should apply to his § 2255 

motion because Kent intentionally misled him regarding the limitations 

period. In the alternative, Cardenas argued the district court should 

recharacterize at least one of his earlier pro se filings as a timely § 2255 

motion. 

The magistrate judge issued a report and recommendation that 

Cardenas’s motion be dismissed as untimely, or alternatively, denied as 

meritless. Cardenas submitted objections to the report. The district court 

concluded the § 2255 motion was untimely and Cardenas was not entitled to 

equitable tolling or recharacterization of his pro se filings. Cardenas appealed.

II.

It’s undisputed that Cardenas’s § 2255 motion is untimely. The only 

question is whether he’s entitled to equitable tolling or recharacterization of 

his pro se filings. We review the district court’s determinations for abuse of 

discretion. See Fisher v. Johnson, 174 F.3d 710, 713 (5th Cir. 1999) (equitable 

tolling); United States v. Elam, 930 F.3d 406, 409 (5th Cir. 2019) 

(recharacterization). Under that standard, we review factual findings for 

clear error and legal conclusions de novo. United States v. Lipscomb, 299 F.3d 

303, 338–39 (5th Cir. 2002).

A.

AEDPA’s statute of limitations may be equitably tolled. See Holland 

v. Florida, 560 U.S. 631 (2010). A prisoner “is entitled to equitable tolling 

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only if he shows (1) that he has been pursuing his rights diligently, and 

(2) that some extraordinary circumstance stood in his way and prevented

timely filing.” Id. at 649 (quotation omitted). As a general matter, equitable 

tolling is warranted only in “rare and exceptional circumstances.” Davis v. 

Johnson, 158 F.3d 806, 811 (5th Cir. 1998); see also United States v. Patterson, 

211 F.3d 927, 931–32 (5th Cir. 2020) (per curiam); United States v. Wynn, 292 

F.3d 226, 230 (5th Cir. 2002).

Cardenas says he’s entitled to equitable tolling because his attorney 

erred in calculating the AEDPA limitations period. That argument is 

squarely foreclosed by our precedent: “[A]n attorney’s error or neglect does 

not warrant equitable tolling.” United States v. Riggs, 314 F.3d 796, 799 (5th 

Cir. 2002). That’s because an “attorney is the prisoner’s agent, and under 

well-settled principles of agency law, the principal bears the risk of negligent 

conduct on the part of his agent.” Maples v. Thomas, 565 U.S. 266, 280–81 

(2012) (quotation omitted). 

Cardenas tries to avoid this result by arguing that his attorney 

intentionally deceived him. See Wynn, 292 F.3d at 230. But this case is a far 

cry from Wynn. Wynn’s counsel falsely claimed to have “filed [a] § 2255 

motion and that a copy of the motion would be forwarded to petitioner.” Id. 

at 228. After the clerk’s office told Wynn that no motion had been filed, his 

attorney again lied and claimed to have “filed the habeas corpus petition 

directly” with the sentencing court. Id. at 228–29. We agreed that “Wynn’s 

allegation that he was deceived by his attorney . . . present[ed] a ‘rare and 

extraordinary circumstance’ beyond petitioner’s control.” Id. at 230. Even 

then, the case presented “a close question as to whether Wynn was put on 

notice to make further inquiry despite the representations made by his 

attorney.” Ibid. We therefore remanded for further factual findings as to “the 

reasonableness of Wynn’s reliance of his attorney’s representations and 

advice.” Ibid.

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Compare that case to Riggs. There, a federal prisoner sought to 

challenge his conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) for using a firearm during 

a drug-trafficking crime. 314 F.3d at 797. Post-conviction counsel erroneously 

“told him that the [AEDPA] limitations period did not expire until Riggs 

began to serve the § 924(c) sentence.” Id. at 798. Following that advice, 

Riggs did not file a § 2255 motion until nearly five years after the limitations 

period had expired. Ibid. Noting there was no evidence counsel 

“intentionally deceived Riggs about the statute of limitations,” we held 

Riggs’s allegations did “not warrant equitable tolling of the statute of

limitations.” Id. at 799–800.

This case is squarely controlled by Riggs. The record shows that 

Cardenas’s counsel, Mr. Kent, simply messed up: “Mr. Cardenas was 

concerned that we had missed the deadline and I assured him we had not. I 

had no doubt in my mind at that time that the deadline was on the one-year 

anniversary of the denial of rehearing by the Supreme Court.” Kent further 

explained: “[A] petition for rehearing on a denial of certiorari on direct 

appeal does not toll the AEDPA time limit. All I can say in my defense is the 

concept is so counter intuitive [sic] that it did not even occur to me to check 

or research the question.” Ignorant? Yes. Intentionally deceptive? No. This 

is precisely the kind of case that does not warrant equitable tolling under 

Riggs.

The district court therefore did not err, much less abuse its discretion,

in declining to equitably toll AEDPA’s statute of limitations.

B.

The next question is whether Cardenas made pro se filings that should 

have been recharacterized—either individually or together—as a timely 

§ 2255 motion.

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Generally, “pro se habeas petitions are not held to the same stringent 

and rigorous standards as are pleadings filed by lawyers.” Hernandez v. 

Thaler, 630 F.3d 420, 426 (5th Cir. 2011) (per curiam) (quotation omitted). 

When reviewing a pro se litigant’s filings, “[i]t is the substance of the relief 

sought by . . . [the] pleading, not the label that the petitioner has attached to 

it, that determines the true nature and operative effect of [the] habeas filing.” 

Id. at 426–27. To that end, this court has liberally construed pro se filings as 

initial § 2255 motions under certain circumstances. See, e.g., Elam, 930 F.3d 

at 410; United States v. Santora, 711 F.2d 41, 42 (5th Cir. 1983); United States 

v. Flores, 380 F. App’x 371, 372 (5th Cir. 2010) (per curiam); United States v. 

Moron-Solis, 388 F. App’x 443, 444 (5th Cir. 2010) (per curiam).

Cardenas argues that at least one of his pro sefilings in the district court 

should have been recharacterized as a timely § 2255 motion under these 

standards. He says he raised the very issue argued in his § 2255 motion—the 

apparent conflict of interest with the prosecuting attorney in his case—

multiple times before his one-year statutory deadline. He further argues that 

he submitted multiple requests for appointment of counsel and relief under 

the Supreme Court’s decision in Johnson v. United States, 576 U.S. 591 

(2015).

There are two fundamental defects with Cardenas’s argument. First, 

the “substance of the relief” sought in most of the pro sefilings was not habeas

relief—that is, Cardenas did not challenge his custody by seeking vacatur of 

his conviction or sentence.* Hernandez, 630 F.3d at 426. In one of the filings, 

* Section 2255 is, of course, a statutory substitute for habeas corpus. See United 

States v. Hayman, 342 U.S. 205, 219 (1952). But the sine qua non in habeas and § 2255 

proceedings is the same: The prisoner must allege that his custody is unlawful. See, e.g., Ex 

parte Milligan, 71 U.S. (4 Wall.) 2, 131 (1866) (“If the military trial of Milligan was contrary 

to law, then he was entitled, on the facts stated in his petition, to be discharged from 

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Cardenas merely sought a status update on his compassionate-release 

motion, see 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2), and asked the court to grant him leave to 

file a pro se appeal if that motion was denied. In another, Cardenas asked the 

court for a number of documents related to his case. 

Those requests stand in stark contrast to filings we’ve previously 

recharacterized. Consider, for example, our decision in Elam. There, the 

§ 2255 movant filed a “Motion Requesting SPECIAL DISCOVERY 

HEARING,” in which he “asserted that his constitutional right to effective 

assistance of counsel had been violated, resulting in a deprivation of his 

liberty.” 930 F.3d at 408, 410. He also “stated seven bases for [that] claim[,] 

. . . challenged his conviction, maintained that his guilty plea was entered 

under duress, and averred that counsel coerced his guilty plea.” Id. at 410.

That radically differs from asking a court to provide a status update or to 

produce documents.

Second, Cardenas’s filings that do seek relief from his sentence assert 

an entirely different basis for relief from the one asserted here. In his motion 

for appointment of counsel, Cardenas argued his sentence violated Johnson

because the district court treated his prior attempted-murder conviction as a 

predicate “crime of violence” for the § 4B1.2 career-offender enhancement. 

Even if we recharacterized that filing as a § 2255 motion, it would not help 

Cardenas. That’s because Cardenas would still have to show his current 

§ 2255 motion is an amendment that “relates back” to the original filing. See 

Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(c); United States v. Gonzalez, 592 F.3d 675, 679 (5th 

Cir. 2009) (per curiam) (explaining that an amendment does not relate back 

if it “assert[s] a new ground for relief supported by facts that differ in both 

custody . . . .”); Hayman, 342 U.S. at 223 n.40 (noting § 2255 creates statutory “procedures 

providing the same relief” as the common-law writ of habeas corpus).

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time and type from those the original pleading set forth” (quotation 

omitted)). Obviously, the old Johnson-based claim asserts a different 

“ground for relief” from the new conflict-of-interest claim. Cf. Brannigan v. 

United States, 249 F.3d 584, 588 (7th Cir. 2001) (holding the word “claim” 

in AEDPA means “a challenge to a particular step in the case, such as the 

introduction of a given piece of evidence, the text of a given jury instruction, 

or the performance of counsel”).

Cardenas says that shouldn’t matter because the district court 

should’ve (1) recharacterized his Johnson motion as a § 2255 motion; 

(2) given Cardenas notice of that recharacterization under Castro v. United 

States, 540 U.S. 375, 383 (2003); and then (3) allowed Cardenas to add 

whatever other claims he might’ve wanted to add under Elam. This misreads 

both Castro and Elam. 

Start with Castro. That case stands for the proposition that when a 

district court recharacterizes a pro se litigant’s motion it must provide him 

with certain procedural opportunities: 

[T]he district court must notify the pro se litigant that it intends 

to recharacterize the pleading, warn the litigant that this 

recharacterization means that any subsequent § 2255 motion 

will be subject to the restrictions on “second or successive” 

motions, and provide the litigant an opportunity to withdraw 

the motion or to amend it so that it contains all the § 2255 

claims he believes he has.

Castro, 540 U.S. at 383. Castro thus prevents district courts from enforcing 

AEDPA’s limitations on second-or-successive § 2255 motions against pro se

litigants who think they are filing their first § 2255 motion. See ibid.

(explaining that if a district court does not comply with the above-mentioned 

procedure, “the [first] motion cannot be considered to have become a § 2255 

motion for purposes of applying to later motions [AEDPA’s] ‘second or 

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successive’ restrictions”). Castro does not purport to create a remedy for 

situations in which a district court failed to recharacterize a pro se litigant’s 

filings. Castro is thus a shield, not an appellate sword.

Taken out of context, our decision in Elam could be read to suggest 

otherwise. There, we held it was an abuse of discretion not to recharacterize 

a pro se prisoner’s filing as a timely § 2255 motion. 930 F.3d at 410. We 

directed the district court on remand to “give Elam notice that his specialdiscovery motion is being construed as a § 2255 motion and . . . allow a 

reasonable opportunity to amend or withdraw it.” Ibid. (citing Castro, 540 

U.S. at 377, 383). Cardenas takes that quote to mean the Castro procedure is 

required every time a district court should have recharacterized a pro se filing, 

and that a litigant may amend his recharacterized pleading to assert any claim. 

But that can’t be what Elam meant because such a broad reading 

would overrule our precedents governing Rule 15(c)’s “relation-back” 

standard in § 2255 cases. See Gonzalez, 592 F.3d at 679; Fed. R. Civ. P.

15(c). Under Cardenas’s distorted reading of Elam and Castro, a § 2255 

movant could violate AEDPA’s limitations period, look back with the benefit 

of hindsight to find something that might be recharacterized as a § 2255 

motion, and then use that recharacterized motion to shoehorn all sorts of 

brand new (and otherwise time-barred) claims into the § 2255 litigation—

including claims that “assert a new ground for relief supported by facts that 

differ in both time and type from those the original pleading set forth.” 

Gonzalez, 592 F.3d at 679 (quotation omitted). That would be quite a 

bonanza, and it would conflict with both AEDPA’s limitations period and 

Gonzalez. 

We decline Cardenas’s invitation to rewrite Gonzalez. Instead, we see 

Gonzalez and Elam as entirely consistent: When a district court 

recharacterizes a filing as a § 2255 motion, the movant must have the 

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opportunity to amend his now-recharacterized motion (Elam) to include any 

claims that relate back to the original pleading under Rule 15(c) (Gonzalez). 

Cardenas is not entitled to recharacterization of anything. And even if he 

were entitled to have his pro se Johnson motion recharacterized as a § 2255 

motion, his current arguments alleging prosecutorial conflict of interest do 

not relate back to his Johnson filing under Rule 15(c).

AFFIRMED.

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