Phillip Williams v. Artis Ray Hobb

Filing

PER CURIAM OPINION FILED - THE COURT: Kermit E. Bye, Michael J. Melloy and Richard G. Kopf -- (UNPUBLISHED) [4043137] [12-1840]

United States Court of Appeals
For the Eighth Circuit
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No. 12-1840
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Phillip D. Williams
lllllllllllllllllllll Plaintiff - Appellant
v.
Artis Ray Hobbs, Director, Arkansas Department of Correction
lllllllllllllllllllll Defendant - Appellee
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Appeal from United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Arkansas - Pine Bluff
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Submitted: January 17, 2013
Filed: June 7, 2013
[Unpublished]
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Before BYE and MELLOY, Circuit Judges, and KOPF,1 District Judge.
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PER CURIAM.
Phillip Williams appeals the district court's dismissal of his habeas corpus
petition as untimely. The issue before this Court is whether the district court properly

1

The Honorable Richard G. Kopf, United States District Court for the District
of Nebraska, sitting by designation.

Appellate Case: 12-1840

Page: 1

Date Filed: 06/07/2013 Entry ID: 4043137

determined that Williams is not entitled to equitable tolling. However, this issue is
now moot after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in McQuiggin v. Perkins, No.
12-126, 569 U.S. ___, 2013 WL 2300806 (May 28, 2013), as Williams asserted newly
discovered evidence of actual innocence as the primary ground for his petition.
Therefore, we remand to the district court for a determination as to whether
Williams's new evidence meets the "demanding" actual-innocence standard.2 Id. at
*12.
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2

We recognize that the magistrate judge indicated in a footnote that he doubted
that Williams met the actual-innocence standard. However, the district court did not
discuss this finding and did not rely on this finding in its decision.
-2-

Appellate Case: 12-1840

Page: 2

Date Filed: 06/07/2013 Entry ID: 4043137