Opinion ID: 2671262
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Dismissal of the Petition as Untimely

Text: AEDPA imposes a one-year statute of limitations on the filing of § 2254 petitions. 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(1). The limitations period begins to run from the latest of four different events, only one of which is relevant to Lugo’s case: “the date on which the judgment became final by the conclusion of direct review or the expiration of the time for seeking such review.” Id. § 2244(d)(1)(A).9 AEDPA’s one-year limitations period is subject to statutory tolling for “[t]he time during which a properly filed application for State post-conviction or other 9 We recognize that Lugo’s pleadings in the district court alleged that “U.S.-State impediments prevent[ed] Lugo from timely filing a federal habeas corpus petition.” If proven, an allegation like that could provide a different triggering date for the application of AEDPA’s one-year deadline. See 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(1)(B) (providing an alternative limitations trigger running from “the date on which the impediment to filing an application created by State action in violation of the Constitution or laws of the United States is removed, if the applicant was prevented from filing by such State action”). Lugo never developed the factual or legal basis for this ground in the district court. We also consider the issue abandoned because he did not argue it in his brief to this Court. See Isaacs v. Head, 300 F.3d 1232, 1238 (11th Cir. 2002); Hartsfield v. Lemacks, 50 F.3d 950, 953 (11th Cir. 1995). In any event, controlling precedent forecloses Lugo’s position. See Lawrence v. Florida, 421 F.3d 1221, 1226 (11th Cir. 2005), aff’d, 549 U.S. 327, 127 S.Ct. 1079 (2007) (holding that providing an incompetent postconviction attorney “is not the type of State impediment envisioned by § 2244(d)(1)(B)”). 15 Case: 11-13439 Date Filed: 04/24/2014 Page: 16 of 53 collateral review with respect to the pertinent judgment or claim is pending.” Id. § 2244(d)(2). Because AEDPA’s limitations period is not jurisdictional, it “is subject to equitable tolling in appropriate cases.” Holland, 560 U.S. at 645, 130 S.Ct. at 2560. A habeas petitioner “is entitled to equitable tolling 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, 130 S.Ct. at 2562 (quotation marks omitted). “The diligence required for equitable tolling purposes is reasonable diligence, not maximum feasible diligence.” Id. at 653, 130 S.Ct. at 2565 (internal citation and quotation marks omitted). The district court correctly determined that the state court judgment became final when the Supreme Court denied Lugo’s petition for a writ of certiorari on October 6, 2003. See Bond, 309 F.3d at 772–73. Lugo had until October 6, 2004, to file his § 2254 petition, absent statutory or equitable tolling. See Downs, 520 F.3d at 1318. After “reviewing the arguments put forth in [Lugo’s] Reply and after considering all the pleadings and applicable law,” the district court concluded that it had “no alternative but to find the petition time barred.” As the district court correctly noted, “[t]he statutory tolling provision does not encompass a period of time in which a state prisoner does not have a ‘properly filed’ post-conviction application actually pending in state court.” Moore v. Crosby, 321 F.3d 1377, 16 Case: 11-13439 Date Filed: 04/24/2014 Page: 17 of 53 1381 (11th Cir. 2003). Lugo’s Rule 3.851 motion was not “actually pending” in state court until October 18, 2004 — twelve days after the one-year limitations period expired. The filing of Lugo’s Rule 3.851 motion did not operate to toll the limitations period under § 2244(d)(2) because no period remained to be tolled. See Tinker v. Moore, 255 F.3d 1331, 1333 (11th Cir. 2001). Nor was Lugo entitled to equitable tolling. When the district court initially dismissed the federal habeas petition as time-barred on July 13, 2011, it expressly considered Lugo’s counseled reply to the State’s arguments that the petition was untimely. The court explained why Lugo had not shown the existence of extraordinary circumstances that prevented him from timely filing his § 2254 petition: Mr. Lugo does not show a causal connection between the alleged extraordinary circumstances and the late filing of the petition. Indeed, the closest he ever comes to even making this argument is when he argues that “equitable intervention is warranted as a result of the professional negligence and egregious conduct of CourtAppointed Registry Counsel, Roy D. Wasson, with regard to his failure to raise an agreed upon good cause of United States and State of Florida collusion so as to alerted [sic] the Court that the misconduct of the Government and State Attorneys hindered his ability to timely recognize and raise all viable and fundamental errors in his Original Motion for Post-Conviction Relief under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.851 before the expiration of the one year time limit.” ([D.E. 59] at 16). Mr. Lugo has not shown how “some extraordinary circumstance stood in his way and prevented timely filing.” Holland, 130 S. Ct. at 2562 (internal quotation marks omitted). Most importantly, Mr. Lugo has not begun to explain how the “Federalized 17 Case: 11-13439 Date Filed: 04/24/2014 Page: 18 of 53 Anarchy” or his counsel’s failure to raise “an agreed upon good cause” ultimately caused the late filing of his federal habeas petition. Mr. Lugo also fails to explain why he did not have ample time to perfect the filing of his state post-conviction motion, leaving himself no time to ultimately file his federal petition[,] [n]or has he given any coherent explanation for his delay in filing in state court. Based on his assertions, it would appear that Mr. Lugo’s argument should have been made as one of an impediment by State action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §2244(d)(1)(B). However, the Court finds that any claim of State impediment is similarly vacant. .... . . . Assuming that the Court found that such an impediment existed, Mr. Lugo has offered no cogent explanation as to how the “Federalized Anarchy” impeded his ability to timely file his petition. The district court also quoted Lugo’s pro se definition of “Federalized Anarchy”: Federalized Anarchy: this refers to the United States and State continuing anarchy of U.S.-State Collusion and its incorporation of Brady Evidence of June 22, 1995 from state criminal trial and into and thru actions taken by the United States and State thereafter termination of criminal proceedings of motion for new trial on January 11, 1999. As these actions involved federal courts of 990418, 99-2419, and 99-1638, it federalized the collective anarchy of U.S.-State Collusion; . . . We agree with the district court’s assessment that this definition “does not assist the Court in understanding why Lugo failed to timely file his federal petition, nor does it explain why Lugo would be entitled to equitable tolling.” The district court correctly concluded that Lugo failed to establish “that some extraordinary circumstance stood in his way and prevented timely filing.” Holland, 560 U.S. at 649, 130 S. Ct. at 2562 (quotation marks omitted). It is well 18 Case: 11-13439 Date Filed: 04/24/2014 Page: 19 of 53 settled that “[t]he burden of proving circumstances that justify the application of the equitable tolling doctrine rests squarely on the petitioner.” San Martin, 633 F.3d at 1268. A petitioner “must plead or proffer enough facts that, if true, would justify an evidentiary hearing on the issue.” Hutchinson v. Florida, 677 F.3d 1097, 1099 (11th Cir. 2012). “And the allegations supporting equitable tolling must be specific and not conclusory.” Id. In light of the petitioner’s burden, district courts are not “required to mine the record, prospecting for facts that the habeas petitioner overlooked and could have, but did not, bring to the surface.” Chavez, 647 F.3d at 1061. That is especially true in a case, like this one, with a massive record. Nearly all of Lugo’s allegations and arguments in the district court that extraordinary circumstances existed were conclusory, tangential, irrelevant, or some combination of the three. It is not enough for a habeas petitioner, who had the benefit of appointed counsel in federal court, to allege in general and conclusory terms that the appointed lawyers who represented him in earlier proceedings acted negligently or engaged in misconduct. And vague allegations about the existence of impediments, without more, or an argument that fails to explain how such impediments prevented the timely filing of the petition, does not establish extraordinary circumstances. Nor are they sufficient to warrant an evidentiary hearing. Id. at 1060. On this record, we cannot say the district court erred in concluding that Lugo failed to establish extraordinary circumstances 19 Case: 11-13439 Date Filed: 04/24/2014 Page: 20 of 53 sufficient to support equitable tolling, or that the court abused its discretion in not granting him an evidentiary hearing. Even if we concluded that Lugo had shown extraordinary circumstances that prevented him from filing his petition on time, we must defer to the district court’s finding of fact that Lugo did not act with due diligence in pursuing his rights, unless it is clearly erroneous. See San Martin, 633 F.3d at 1265. The district court found that Lugo had failed to articulate how he acted with diligence, and instead had simply cited to “several of the documents attached in the Appendix. (See Appendix C-R, dd-kk).” After reviewing the appendix items cited by Lugo, the court “found that all of the documents purporting to show diligence that could entitle Mr. Lugo to equitable tolling of the statute of limitations were filed well after the statute of limitations had already expired and were not documents regarding a federal habeas petition or the filing thereof.” We have independently reviewed the documents Lugo cited to the district court. With the exception of an email dated October 31, 1996 (which does not remotely have anything to do with Lugo’s diligence or lack of it), all of the documents he cited appear to involve matters from various state and federal court proceedings that were filed after the one-year limitations period expired on October 6, 2004. They are not probative of Lugo’s diligence during the relevant time period before the limitations period expired. Thus, we cannot say the district 20 Case: 11-13439 Date Filed: 04/24/2014 Page: 21 of 53 court’s finding with respect to diligence “lacks substantial evidence to support [it].” Id. (quotation marks omitted). It is not clearly erroneous.10