O'Dell #211818 v. Ryan et al
Filing
13
ORDER ADOPTING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION - IT IS ORDERED that Magistrate Judge Burns 12 R&R is accepted and adopted as the order of this Court. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the 1 Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 7; 2254 is denied and dismissed with prejudice. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that pursuant to Rule 11(a) of the Rules Governing Section 2254 Cases, a Certificate of Appealability and leave to proceed in forma pauperis on appeal are denied because dismissa l of the Petition is justified by a plain procedural bar and jurists of reason would not find the procedural ruling debatable. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Clerk of Court shall terminate this action and enter judgment accordingly. See document for complete details. Signed by Judge Diane J Humetewa on 1/8/19. (MSA)
1
WO
2
3
4
5
6
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
7
FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA
8
9
Leonard Dwight O’Dell,
10
Petitioner,
11
ORDER
v.
12
No. CV-17-04285-PHX-DJH
Charles L Ryan, et al.,
13
Respondents.
14
15
This matter is before the Court on Petitioner’s Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus
16
pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (Doc. 1) and the Report and Recommendation (“R&R”)
17
issued by United States Magistrate Judge Michelle H. Burns (Doc. 12). Pursuant to a plea
18
agreement, on September 6, 2012, Petitioner was convicted in Maricopa County Superior
19
Court of promoting prison contraband, aggravated assault, and destruction of or injury to a
20
public jail. (See Doc. 6). Petitioner was sentenced to a 9.25-year prison term. (Doc. 11,
21
Exh. O).
22
Petitioner raises one ground for relief in his Petition. Specifically, he claims that he
23
received ineffective assistance of counsel and that his Sixth Amendment right “to not be
24
subjected to badgering harassment or cross[-]examination w/o the presence of a lawyer”
25
was violated. (Doc. 1 at 6; Doc. 6 at 11). After a careful examination of the issues, Judge
26
Burns decided that Petitioner’s claims were untimely because he failed to file his habeas
27
petition within the one-year statute of limitations period. (Doc. 12 at 6). Judge Burns
28
determined that by pleading guilty, Petitioner had waived his right to a direct appeal and
1
Petitioner thus had 90 days after the trial court sentenced him to file an “of-right” petition
2
for post-conviction relief (“PCR”) under Rule 32 of the Arizona Rules of Criminal
3
Procedure. She further found that even assuming the PCR petition was timely filed, the
4
state court dismissed it on June 27, 2013. From that date, Petitioner had 30 days to file a
5
petition for review in the Arizona Court of Appeals, which he did not do. As a result, Judge
6
Burns found that Petitioner’s case became final and the statute of limitations for his habeas
7
petition began to run on July 29, 2013. The one-year statute made it necessary for
8
Petitioner to initiate his habeas proceedings on or before July 29, 2014. Although
9
Petitioner initiated two habeas proceedings – one on October 25, 2016 (in CV-16-03695-
10
PHX-DJH (MHB)), and one on November 21, 2017 (the current matter) – both were
11
beyond this deadline, and absent tolling, were untimely. Judge Burns found that Petitioner
12
did not establish that he was entitled to equitable tolling or that an equitable exception to
13
the limitations period should apply. She specifically considered Petitioner’s attempts to
14
explain his untimeliness and found that they did not constitute extraordinary circumstances
15
that would justify equitably tolling of the statute. (Doc. 12 at 7). Accordingly, Judge Burns
16
recommended that the habeas petition be denied and dismissed with prejudice. (Id.)
17
Judge Burns advised the parties that they had fourteen days to file objections and
18
that the failure to file timely objections “may result in the acceptance of the Report and
19
Recommendation by the District Court without further review.” (Doc. 12 at 8) (citing
20
United States v. Reyna-Tapia, 328 F.3d 1114, 1121 (9th Cir. 2003). The parties have not
21
filed objections and the time to do so has expired. Absent any objections, the Court is not
22
required to review the findings and recommendations in the R&R. See Thomas v. Arn, 474
23
U.S. 140, 149 (1989) (the relevant provision of the Federal Magistrates Act, 28 U.S.C. §
24
636(b)(1)(C), “does not on its face require any review at all . . . of any issue that is not the
25
subject of an objection.”); Reyna-Tapia, 328 F.3d at 1121 (same); Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(b)(3)
26
(“The district judge must determine de novo any part of the magistrate judge’s disposition
27
that has been properly objected to.”).
28
Nonetheless, the Court has reviewed the R&R and agrees with its findings and
-2-
1
recommendations. The Court will, therefore, accept the R&R and deny the habeas petition.
2
See 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(C) (“A judge of the court may accept, reject, or modify, in whole
3
or in part, the findings or recommendations made by the magistrate judge.”); Fed.R.Civ.P.
4
72(b)(3) (same).
5
Accordingly,
6
IT IS ORDERED that Magistrate Judge Burns R&R (Doc. 12) is accepted and
7
8
9
adopted as the order of this Court.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus pursuant
to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (Doc. 1) is denied and dismissed with prejudice.
10
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that pursuant to Rule 11(a) of the Rules Governing
11
Section 2254 Cases, a Certificate of Appealability and leave to proceed in forma pauperis
12
on appeal are denied because dismissal of the Petition is justified by a plain procedural bar
13
and jurists of reason would not find the procedural ruling debatable.
14
15
16
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Clerk of Court shall terminate this action
and enter judgment accordingly.
Dated this 8th day of January, 2019.
17
18
19
20
Honorable Diane J. Humetewa
United States District Judge
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
-3-
Disclaimer: Justia Dockets & Filings provides public litigation records from the federal appellate and district courts. These filings and docket sheets should not be considered findings of fact or liability, nor do they necessarily reflect the view of Justia.
Why Is My Information Online?