Source: http://legaliq.com/Case/Ramos_Martinez_V_United_States
Timestamp: 2018-01-19 17:38:48
Document Index: 240170109

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 2255', '§ 2255', '§ 2255', '§ 2255', '§ 2244', '§ 1827']

Ramos-Martinez v. United States (638 F.3d 315)
Case Name: Ramos-Martinez v. United States
Filed: March 07, 2011
Citations: 638 F.3d 315
Docket #: 09-1856
Judges: Boudin, Circuit Judge, Souter
638 F.3d 315 (2011)
Wilfredo RAMOS-MARTÍNEZ, Petitioner, Appellant,
Decided March 7, 2011. Heard January 5, 2011.
*317 Linda Backiel, by appointment of the court, for appellant.
Luke Cass, Assistant United States Attorney, with whom Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez, United States Attorney, and Nelson Pérez-Sosa, Assistant United States Attorney (Chief, Appellate Division), were on brief, for appellee.
Before BOUDIN, Circuit Judge, SOUTER,[*] Associate Justice, and SELYA, Circuit Judge.
*318 SELYA, Circuit Judge.
This case presents a question of first impression in this circuit: Is the limitations period for the filing of a federal prisoner's habeas petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2255(f) subject to equitable tolling? We answer this question affirmatively, but even though the petitioner raises a serious question about whether he was unlawfully deprived of the services of a qualified interpreterwe go no further; the record as it stands is insufficient to allow us to resolve the merits of either the equitable tolling claim or the substantive claims that underlie the petition. Consequently, we vacate the order dismissing the petition and remand for further proceedings.
After the petitioner had been questioned at some length about his understanding of the proffered plea and its consequences, his counsel, David Román, informed the court that the petitioner "does not speak [E]nglish and this indictment is in [E]nglish." Román declared that he was fluent in Spanish and, therefore, had "explained all of it" to his client in Spanish. Notwithstanding this aposematic disclosure, the court did not inquire further into the petitioner's English language proficiency.
The record contains no indication that, prior to or during the hearing, the court asked the petitioner if he needed the services of an interpreter.[1] Neither the docket nor the transcript contains any notation showing that a court interpreter participated in the hearing.[2] Tellingly, the court's criminal minute sheet for the hearing does not identify any interpreter in the space provided for that information.
The disposition hearing took place on November 4, 2002. At that time, the petitioner requested "all the documents in the case." He claimed that he repeatedly had asked Román to procure these papers, but to no avail. He also signaled his intention to file a section 2255 petition premised on Román's ineffective assistance. The district court summarily rejected the petitioner's entreaty and stated that it did not "find a scintilla, an iota of evidence to conclude that Mr. Román was ineffective." The court proceeded to sentence the petitioner to 480 months in prison.
The petitioner filed a pro se notice of appeal and requested the appointment of counsel. Attorney José Franco-Rivera ultimately *319 appeared as the petitioner's appellate counsel.
On April 16, 2008, the district court granted the motion to expand the record. The expanded record contains evidence regarding the events that transpired at the *320 change-of-plea hearing, documents establishing lockdown periods affecting facilities in which the petitioner was incarcerated, information about his relationship with Rosado, and materials evidencing his limited education and low proficiency in the English language.
Id. at *3. In the court's view, the transcript of the hearing showed that the petitioner "answer[ed] several questions with full sentences and never indicated that he could not understand the proceedings." Id. The court concluded that "[a]lthough the court would have done well to conduct a more thorough inquiry into Petitioner's comprehension of English, the record does not demonstrate that Petitioner had difficulty with English so as to trigger the requirements of the Court Interpreters Act." Id. In the process of reaching this conclusion, the court creatively interpreted Román's statement that the petitioner did not speak English to mean that he "could not read and understand the indictment, not that he could not comprehend the court proceedings." Id. Having denied the petition on the merits, the court effectively sidestepped the equitable tolling issue.
"Congress enacted 28 U.S.C. § 2255 as a substitute for the traditional habeas remedy with respect to federal prisoners." Trenkler v. United States, 536 F.3d 85, 96 (1st Cir.2008). The AEDPA establishes a one-year limitations period for habeas petitions filed by prisoners in federal custody. 28 U.S.C. § 2255(f). In general, this period runs from "the date on which the judgment of conviction becomes final." Id. § 2255(f)(1). Where, as here, Supreme Court review is not sought, "a judgment of conviction becomes final when the time expires for filing a petition for *321 certiorari contesting the appellate court's affirmation of the conviction." Clay v. United States, 537 U.S. 522, 525, 123 S.Ct. 1072, 155 L.Ed.2d 88 (2003). In a federal criminal case, a petition for a writ of certiorari must be filed within 90 days of entry of the judgment by a court of appeals. Sup.Ct. R. 13.1.
Equitable tolling is a doctrine that "provides that in exceptional circumstances, a statute of limitations `may be extended for equitable reasons not acknowledged in the statute creating the limitations period.'" Neverson v. Farquharson, 366 F.3d 32, 40 (1st Cir.2004) (quoting David v. Hall, 318 F.3d 343, 345-46 (1st Cir.2003)). The AEDPA does not make any explicit reference to equitable tolling. Neither the Supreme Court nor this court has conclusively resolved whether section 2255's limitations period may be equitably tolled. We answer that question today.
Despite the lack of controlling precedent, we do not write on a pristine page. The Supreme Court recently held that the limitations period under a kindred AEDPA provision (28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)), which applies to federal habeas petitions filed by prisoners in state custody, is subject to equitable tolling in appropriate instances. Holland v. Florida, ___ U.S. ___, 130 S.Ct. 2549, 2560, 177 L.Ed.2d 130 (2010). In reaching this conclusion, the Court considered whether the relevant statute of limitations is jurisdictional in nature, whether it contains sufficiently emphatic indications to overcome the presumption that equitable tolling applies, and whether the availability of equitable tolling would undermine the statute's fundamental purposes. Id. at 2560-62. In determining whether section 2255's built-in limitations period is subject to equitable tolling, we deem it appropriate to factor these same three integers into the decisional calculus.
To begin, section 2255(f)'s limitations period is couched in language virtually identical to that of section 2244(d).[3] Neither provision sets forth "`an inflexible rule requiring dismissal whenever' its `clock has run.'" Id. at 2560 (quoting Day v. McDonough, 547 U.S. 198, 208, 126 S.Ct. 1675, 164 L.Ed.2d 376 (2006)). We conclude, therefore, that section 2255(f) is non-jurisdictional. See id.; Day, 547 U.S. at 205, 126 S.Ct. 1675; cf. Henderson v. Shinseki, 562 U.S. ___, ___, 131 S.Ct. 1197, 1205, 179 L.Ed.2d 159 (2011) (explaining that terms of statutory provision establishing deadline for seeking Veterans Court review contain "no clear indication that Congress wanted that provision to be treated as having jurisdictional attributes").
When found in federal statutes, non-jurisdictional limitations periods ordinarily are subject to a rebuttable presumption that equitable tolling is available. Holland, 130 S.Ct. at 2560. The Holland Court explained that this presumption is strengthened "by the fact that `equitable principles' have traditionally `governed' the substantive law of habeas corpus." Id. (quoting Munaf v. Geren, 553 U.S. 674, 693, 128 S.Ct. 2207, 171 L.Ed.2d 1 (2008)). *322 This rationale applies with undiminished force to section 2255 petitions.
The similarities do not end there. Like section 2244(d), the prescriptive period provided in section 2255(f) contains no "unusually emphatic" language or reiterations that might tend to rebut the presumption in favor of equitable tolling. See id. (contrasting section 2244(d) with statutes at issue in United States v. Beggerly, 524 U.S. 38, 118 S.Ct. 1862, 141 L.Ed.2d 32 (1998), and United States v. Brockamp, 519 U.S. 347, 117 S.Ct. 849, 136 L.Ed.2d 818 (1997)). Moreover, a one-year limitations period is not especially long, and habeas corpus is a subject area in which equitable principles may comfortably flourish. See id. These considerations, which apply to both section 2244 and section 2255, strongly suggest the availability of equitable tolling. See id.
Lastbut surely not leastHolland informs our examination of the AEDPA's basic objectives. There, the Court concluded that allowing equitable tolling in appropriate circumstances would not undercut the AEDPA's core principles. Id. at 2562. This conclusion is not altered when the focus shifts from section 2244 to section 2255.
To say more on this issue would be supererogatory. Given the compelling textual similarity and congruent purpose that section 2244(d) and section 2255(f) share and the common heritage of both provisions as part of the same statutory framework, we hold that section 2255(f)'s one-year limitations period is subject to equitable tolling in appropriate instances. This holding comports with the reasoning of the Holland Court. It also brings this court into line with ten other courts of appeals that have reached the same conclusion. See United States v. Aguirre-Ganceda, 592 F.3d 1043, 1045 (9th Cir.2010); Byers v. United States, 561 F.3d 832, 836 (8th Cir.2009); United States v. Petty, 530 F.3d 361, 364 (5th Cir.2008) (per curiam); United States v. Gabaldon, 522 F.3d 1121, 1124 (10th Cir.2008); Solomon v. United States, 467 F.3d 928, 935 (6th Cir.2006); United States v. Sosa, 364 F.3d 507, 512 (4th Cir.2004); Baldayaque v. United States, 338 F.3d 145, 150 (2d Cir.2003); United States v. Marcello, 212 F.3d 1005, 1010 (7th Cir.2000); Sandvik v. United States, 177 F.3d 1269, 1271 (11th Cir.1999) (per curiam); Miller v. N.J. State Dept. of Corr., 145 F.3d 616, 619 n. 1 (3d Cir.1998).
A court's power to invoke equitable tolling must be exercised case by case. See Holland, 130 S.Ct. at 2563; Baggett v. Bullitt, 377 U.S. 360, 375, 84 S.Ct. 1316, 12 L.Ed.2d 377 (1964). "To preserve the usefulness of statutes of limitations as rules of law, equitable tolling should be invoked only `sparingly.'" Farquharson, 366 F.3d at 42 (quoting Irwin v. Dep't of Vet. Affairs, 498 U.S. 89, 96, 111 S.Ct. 453, 112 L.Ed.2d 435 (1990)). In order to assuage this concern, we have recognized that equitable tolling is available only in cases in which "circumstances beyond the litigant's control have prevented [her] from promptly filing." Cordle v. Guarino, 428 F.3d 46, *323 48 (1st Cir.2005) (alteration in original) (quoting Lattimore v. Dubois, 311 F.3d 46, 55 (1st Cir.2002)). These background principles inform our inquiry.
"A habeas petitioner bears the burden of establishing the basis for equitable tolling." Riva v. Ficco, 615 F.3d 35, 39 (1st Cir.2010) (citing Holland, 130 S.Ct. at 2562). To carry this burden, the petitioner must show "`(1) that he has been pursuing his rights diligently, and (2) that some extraordinary circumstance stood in his way' and prevented timely filing." Holland, 130 S.Ct. at 2562 (quoting Pace v. DiGuglielmo, 544 U.S. 408, 418, 125 S.Ct. 1807, 161 L.Ed.2d 669 (2005)); see Trapp v. Spencer, 479 F.3d 53, 61 (1st Cir.2007) (listing additional factors that may influence whether or not to grant equitable tolling).
Equitable tolling normally requires a finding of extraordinary circumstances. See, e.g., Riva, 615 F.3d at 39. In this case the extraordinary circumstances limned by the petitioner involve, among other things, the alleged failure of Rosado (a paralegal purportedly associated with the petitioner's appellate counsel and paid by the petitioner's family to prepare a section 2255 petition) to do what he had agreed to do. "[S]ometimes, professional misconduct [may] ... amount to egregious behavior and create an extraordinary circumstance that warrants equitable tolling." Holland 130 S.Ct. at 2563; accord United States v. Martin, 408 F.3d 1089, 1093 (8th Cir.2005); Baldayaque, 338 F.3d at 152; United States v. Wynn, 292 F.3d 226, 230 (5th Cir.2002).
Here, however, the matter is not clear-cut. Cases in which professional failings have been judged sufficiently egregious to warrant a finding of extraordinary circumstances typically have involved misconduct by attorneys. See, e.g., Martin, 408 F.3d at 1093-96; Spitsyn v. Moore, 345 F.3d 796, 801 (9th Cir. 2003). Rosado is only a paralegalbut a paralegal who may have been working with (or for) an attorney. On the record before us, the relationship between Rosado and the lawyer is opaque. Better information on this point might well be significant in the equitable tolling calculus.
Equitable tolling is not intended as a device to rescue those who inexcusably sleep upon their rights. A habeas petitioner who seeks the balm of equitable tolling must show that he has exercised "reasonable diligence" to protect his own *324 interests. Holland, 130 S.Ct. at 2565 (citing Lonchar v. Thomas, 517 U.S. 314, 326, 116 S.Ct. 1293, 134 L.Ed.2d 440 (1996)). Be that as it may, this requirement does not demand a showing that the petitioner left no stone unturned. Baldayaque, 338 F.3d at 153.
In addition, both "extraordinary circumstances" and "reasonable diligence" depend on the totality of the circumstances. See Trapp, 479 F.3d at 61. In attempting to assemble the components of that totality, the petitioner points to considerations such as his limited education and lack of familiarity with the English language, the frustration of his efforts to learn English while incarcerated so that he could prepare his own petition, prison transfers and isolation due to lockdowns during the period between November of 2007 and February of 2008, and the like. Although any one of these factors, standing alone, may be insufficient to excuse a failure to file a timely habeas petition, see, e.g., Akins v. United States, 204 F.3d 1086, 1089-90 (11th Cir.2000) (declining to apply equitable tolling where petitioner was subject to lockdown but record indicated he had the opportunity to file his motion when lockdown was not in place), the whole may be greater than the sum of the parts. The record is exiguous as to most of these points and, therefore, fuller development of them is desirable.
The district court did not dwell on the dearth of information about equitable tolling but, rather, elected to sidestep that issue and resolve the case on the merits. This pragmatic approach can be utilitarian in some cases; a court occasionally may avoid addressing an enigmatic threshold issue by cutting directly to the merits. See Lambrix v. Singletary, 520 U.S. 518, 525, 117 S.Ct. 1517, 137 L.Ed.2d 771 (1997) (disclaiming any intention "to suggest that the procedural-bar issue must invariably be resolved first" in a habeas case, and explaining that "[j]udicial economy might counsel" going directly to the merits if the merits were easily resolvable against the petitioner); Pough v. United States, 442 F.3d 959, 965 (6th Cir.2006) (explaining that issue of timeliness of section 2255 motion may be bypassed and claims decided against petitioner on the merits); cf. Pearson v. Callahan, 555 U.S. 223, 129 S.Ct. 808, 818, 172 L.Ed.2d 565 (2009) (admonishing that judges "should be permitted to exercise their sound discretion in deciding which of the two prongs of the qualified immunity analysis should be addressed first in light of the circumstances in the particular case at hand"). But using this approach requires, at a bare minimum, *325 that the outcome on the merits is both clear and favorable to the party advocating the threshold issue. See Lambrix, 520 U.S. at 525, 117 S.Ct. 1517.
The Court Interpreters Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1827(d)(1)(A), provides that a judge must arrange for the services of a qualified court interpreter if a criminal defendant "speaks only or primarily a language other than the English language." Once the court is on notice that a defendant's understanding of the proceedings may be inhibited by his limited proficiency in English, it has a duty to inquire whether he needs an interpreter. See, e.g., United States v. Zaragoza, 543 F.3d 943, 949 (7th Cir.2008). In the case at hand, both of the petitioner's substantive claimsdeprivation of due process and ineffective assistance of counselrequire an examination of whether the petitioner was entitled to, offered, or actually received the services of an interpreter at his change-of-plea hearing.
On the incomplete record that was available to the district court, it could not answer these crucial questions with any degree of assurance. The court's attempt to answer them, quoted supra at 319, is nothing more than conjecture. By like token, the court's facile reinterpretation of counsel's warning that the petitioner did not understand English is unconvincing. Speculating about such basic facts as whether Judge Carter informed the petitioner of his right to an interpreter, whether the petitioner's proficiency in the English language was so limited that an interpreter was needed, and whether the petitioner waived any entitlement is not a substitute for factfinding.
A habeas petitioner has the burden of adducing facts sufficient to show both that his petition should be treated as timely and that he is entitled to relief. See, e.g., Riva, 615 F.3d at 39 (stating that "habeas petitioner bears the burden of establishing the basis for equitable tolling"); Gonzalez-Soberal v. United States, 244 F.3d 273, 277 (1st Cir.2001) (explaining that petitioner pressing ineffective assistance claim in section 2255 motion is required to establish entitlement to relief by preponderance of the evidence). But the situation in this case is highly idiosyncratic; the issues are tangled and the events at issue span many years. Moreover, the petitioner persistently requested an evidentiary hearing to develop the facts relevant to his claims. Those requests were uniformly denied.
An evidentiary hearing may be available in connection with a section 2255 petition. See Rule 8, Rules Governing Section 2255 Proceedings. While a petitioner "is not entitled to an evidentiary hearing as a matter of right," David v. United States, 134 F.3d 470, 477 (1st Cir. 1998), an evidentiary hearing sometimes *326 serves the ends of justice. We think that this is such a case. The circumstances are exceptional; and the situation is complicated by the nuanced nature of the questions presented, the inherent difficulty of obtaining reliable information needed to answer those questions, the petitioner's limited proficiency in the English language, the absence of counsel during several critical periods, the sheer passage of time, and the participation of multiple district judges.[4]
[1] In contrast, in a change-of-plea hearing held on that same afternoon for one of the petitioner's codefendants, Maximo Salamo-Olmeda, Judge Carter inquired pointedly about the defendant's ability to communicate with the court without the help of an interpreter.
[2] In contrast, the record of the petitioner's sentencing indicates that he was "provided with the assistance of the Official Court Interpreter" for that proceeding.
[3] In relevant part, section 2244(d)(1) prescribes that a "1-year period of limitation shall apply to an application for a writ of habeas corpus by a person in custody pursuant to the judgment of a State court"; section 2255(f) indicates that a "1-year period of limitation shall apply to a motion under this section."
[4] Rule 4(a) of the Rules Governing Section 2255 Proceedings contemplates that the same judge who handles a petitioner's trial ordinarily should review his section 2255 petition. Here, however, through no fault of either the petitioner or the district court, a series of different judges were involved at different stages of the change-of-plea, sentencing, and post-conviction section 2255 proceedings.
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