UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN 

SOUTHERN DIVISION 

KETJOL MANOKU, 

 Petitioner, 

Case No. 09-11511 

v. 

Honorable Patrick J. Duggan 

BLAINE LAFLER, 

 Respondent. 

 / 

ORDER 

 On April 22, 2009, Ketjol Manoku (“Petitioner”), a state prisoner currently 

incarcerated at the Marquette Branch Prison in Marquette, Michigan, filed a pro se 

habeas corpus petition challenging his convictions for first-degree murder, conspiracy to 

commit murder, assault with intent to commit murder, and felony-firearm. Petitioner is 

serving a life sentence of imprisonment. On February 9, 2010, Petitioner moved to hold 

his habeas petition in abeyance while he returned to state court to exhaust additional 

claims. The Court granted this motion in an Order dated April 19, 2010, conditioning the 

stay on Petitioner presenting his unexhausted claims to the trial court in a motion for 

relief from judgment within thirty (30) days. The Court stated that if Petitioner’s motion 

for relief from judgment was unsuccessful, he could move to lift the stay in this case and 

amend his petition to add the exhausted claims, provided that he did so within ninety (90) 

days of exhausting state remedies. 

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 Petitioner filed his Motion for Relief from Judgment in Oakland County Circuit 

Court on May 27, 2010, which was within the timeframe ordered by this Court. Plaintiff 

then sought an extension from this Court to file a Motion to Supplement his Motion for 

Relief from Judgment with the Michigan Courts. The Court granted this motion and gave 

Petitioner an additional thirty days to file with the state court. Ultimately, Petitioner’s 

claims were unsuccessful and the Michigan Supreme Court denied Petitioner’s 

Application for Leave to Appeal on October 22, 2012. 

 In accordance with this Court’s previous orders, Petitioner must “move to lift the 

stay in this case and amend his petition to add the exhausted claims” within “ninety (90) 

days of exhausting state remedies.” On January 2, 2013, Petitioner moved this Court for 

an additional sixty (60) days to comply with this order. Petitioner explains that he is 

working toward filing the requisite motion. Petitioner, however, claims that as a native 

of Albania, he does not understand the law of the United States, and therefore used the 

legal writers program offered by the Michigan Department of Corrections. Moreover, the 

prisoner legal writer assigned to assist petitioner with this matter was transferred from the 

Marquette Branch Prison to another prison on November 26, 2012. Given the need to 

correct many errors in the document created by the transferred writer and the fact that the 

legal writing program hours are vastly reduced over the two-week holiday period, 

Petitioner asks for sixty (60) more days to file with this Court. The Court believes that 

these circumstances justify an extension of the time to file a motion to lift the stay and 

amend the petition for habeas corpus. 

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 Accordingly, 

Petitioner’s request for an additional sixty (60) days to prepare and file his motion 

to lift the stay of proceedings and to file an amended petition for habeas corpus is 

GRANTED. The Court cautions that given the need to ensure timeliness, this will be the 

last extension the Court will grant to Petitioner. Petitioner must file the pertinent motion 

no later than March 20, 2013. 

 IT IS SO ORDERED. 

Dated: January 23, 2013 

 s/PATRICK J. DUGGAN 

 UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 

Copies to: 

Ketjol Manoku, #597394 

Marquette Branch Prison 

1960 U.S. Hwy 41 South 

Marquette, Michigan 49855 

Mark G. Sands, Esq.

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