Stringer v. Marshall

Filing 57

ORDER signed by Magistrate Judge Edmund F. Brennan on 4/14/15 ORDERING petitioners counsel to submit a status report within seven days of the date of this order informing the court of the current progress of the § 1405 motion in the state superior court. The court will defer ruling on the need for a stay until receipt of the report.(Dillon, M)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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LONNIE DAVID STRINGER,

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Petitioner,

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No. 2:09-cv-2980-GEB-EFB P

v.
JOHN MARSHALL,

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ORDER

Respondent.

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Petitioner is a state prisoner with counsel seeking a writ of habeas corpus. See 28 U.S.C.

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§ 2254. On March 31, 2011, this court granted respondent’s motion to dismiss the action as

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barred by the statute of limitations contained in the Anti-terrorism and Effective Death Penalty

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Act (“AEDPA”). ECF No. 30. Later that year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

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concluded that AEDPA’s limitations provisions are subject to an equitable exception for claims of

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actual innocence. Lee v. Lampert, 653 F.3d 929 (9th Cir. 2011) (en banc). The United States

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Supreme Court agreed in 2013. McQuiggin v. Perkins, __ U.S. __, 133 S. Ct. 1924, 1928, 1933

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(2013).
On appeal, the Ninth Circuit affirmed this court’s determinations that: (1) petitioner is not

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entitled to statutory tolling; (2) the federal statute of limitations began to run when petitioner’s

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conviction became final; and (3) petitioner is not entitled to equitable tolling. ECF No. 38.

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However, because this court did not consider whether petitioner qualified for the equitable

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exception based on actual innocence, the Ninth Circuit remanded the case for consideration of

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that single issue, citing McQuiggin. Id.

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The court ordered supplemental briefing and the state court record to address the actual

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innocence issue. ECF No. 40. The court has received the record and the briefs. Petitioner now

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asks the court to stay ruling on the issue until the resolution of his California Penal Code § 1405

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motion for DNA testing, filed in Solano County Superior Court late last year. ECF No. 53.

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Petitioner guesses that the hearing on the motion would be held in early 2015 and the motion

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would be resolved by May 2015 (including any DNA testing that the state court may order).

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Petitioner asks the court to stay the case until mid-May and then hold a status conference to

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determine whether the stay should be lifted.

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Respondent opposes the request, arguing that “[a]ny future DNA test results would be

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barred from consideration in this Court because petitioner has not exhausted the claim in the state

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courts.” ECF No. 55 at 2. Respondent misperceives the exhaustion requirement. A federal

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habeas petitioner must exhaust his claims for relief by fairly presenting them to the state’s highest

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court. Duncan v. Henry, 513 U.S. 354, 365 (1995). The issue before the court right now is not

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any claim for habeas relief, but rather the federal procedural issue of whether petitioner has

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enough evidence of his innocence such that his claims for habeas relief may be heard despite his

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failure to file his petition within the federal limitations period. This is a determination that can

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only be made by the federal court, as a preliminary procedural matter prior to any consideration

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of the merits of the actual claims contained in the petition.

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The court has inherent authority to manage its docket and, in the efficient pursuit of that

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objective, may stay a case pending resolution of independent proceedings that are relevant to the

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case before the court. Yong v. INS, 208 F.3d 1116, 1119-20 (9th Cir. 2000). However, the court

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has a competing obligation to resolve habeas petitions promptly. Id. at 1120. A district court

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may not, in the interests of judicial economy, issue an indefinite and potentially lengthy stay in a

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habeas case. Id.

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Should the state court grant petitioner’s request for DNA analysis, such evidence would

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certainly be relevant to the court’s resolution of whether petitioner has sufficient evidence of his

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innocence such that the court may hear his case on the merits despite the passage of the

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limitations period. Nevertheless, the court must not stay the case any longer than is necessary.

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Accordingly, the court orders petitioner’s counsel to submit a status report within seven days of

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the date of this order informing the court of the current progress of the § 1405 motion in the state

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superior court. The court will defer ruling on the need for a stay until receipt of the report.

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So ordered.
Dated: April 14, 2015.

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