Wilridge v. Marshall

Filing 31

ORDER RE: EVIDENTIARY HEARING ON PETITIONER'S FRCP 60(B) MOTION 20 (Illston, Susan) (Filed on 1/23/2013)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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QUINN MALCOLM WILRIDGE,

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United States District Court
For the Northern District of California

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No. C 09-2236 SI

Petitioner,

ORDER RE: EVIDENTIARY HEARING
ON PETITIONER’S FRCP 60(B)
MOTION

v.
JOHN MARSHALL, warden,
Respondent.
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Pursuant to a limited remand from the Ninth Circuit, now before the Court is petitioner’s motion

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for relief under Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b) from the Court’s October 5, 2009, dismissal of his habeas petition

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as time-barred. In addition to the parties’ papers, on October 12, 2012, the Court heard argument on

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the motion. Having considered the various arguments, the Court concludes that it cannot dispose of the

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instant motion without an evidentiary hearing. Therefore the Court hereby ORDERS an evidentiary

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hearing as discussed below.

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BACKGROUND

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Wilridge was convicted in Santa Clara County Superior Court of robbery and was found to have

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suffered six prior robbery convictions in Washington state. He was sentenced on February 1, 2002 to

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30 years to life in state prison. His conviction was affirmed by the California Court of Appeal on

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December 8, 2003. The California Supreme Court denied his petition for review on March 3, 2004.

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About four years later, Wilridge sought collateral review of his conviction. His petition for writ of

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habeas corpus in the Santa Clara County Superior Court was filed on April 13, 2008, and denied on June

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30, 2008. His petition for writ of habeas corpus in the California Court of Appeal was filed on August

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25, 2008, and denied on August 29, 2008. He sent a petition for review to the California Supreme

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Court, but it was returned unfiled because it was untimely.

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Wilridge then filed the instant action. On October 5, 2009, the Court dismissed his petition as

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barred by the one-year statute of limitations for prisoners challenging non-capital state convictions. See

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28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(1). The Court found that the limitations period began on June 1, 2004, 90 days

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after the California Supreme Court denied review of his appeal, and that Wilridge did not file his habeas

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petition until April 15, 2009. The Court also found that Wilridge had failed to demonstrate that he was

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entitled to equitable tolling of the limitations period based on mental impairment. Following that

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dismissal, on January 11, 2010, the Court denied Wilridge’s application for a certificate of appealability.

United States District Court
For the Northern District of California

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Wilridge appealed.

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On July 18, 2011, the Ninth Circuit granted Wilridge’s request for a certificate of appealability,

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“with respect to the following issues: whether the district court erred by dismissing appellant’s habeas

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petition as time-barred, including whether, in light of this court’s holdings in Bills v. Clark, 628 F.3d

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1092, 1099-1101 (9th Cir. 2010) and Roberts v. Marshall, 627 F.3d 768, 773 (9th Cir. 2010), appellant

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was entitled to an evidentiary hearing and/or equitable tolling on the basis of his mental impairment.”

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See Wilridge v. Marshall, Case No. 09-17695, dkt. 6 (Jul. 18, 2011). The Ninth Circuit also appointed

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counsel.

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On February 10, 2012, Wilridge moved the Ninth Circuit for limited remand to this Court to

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supplement the record with medical records and his prison “C file” newly obtained by his appointed

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counsel. Case No. 09-17695, dkt. 18. On April 9, 2012, the Ninth Circuit denied Wilridge’s motion

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for limited remand, stating however, that the denial is “without prejudice to a renewed motion

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accompanied by an indication that the district court is willing to entertain the proposed Federal Rule of

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Civil Procedure 60(b) motion.” Case No. 09-17695, dkt. 26 (citing Crateo v. Intermark, Inc., 536 F.2d

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862 (9th Cir. 1976).

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On June 18, 2012, this Court indicated its willingness to entertain a 60(b) motion, and petitioner

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subsequently filed a motion for remand in the Ninth Circuit. On September 11, 2012, the Ninth Circuit

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granted a limited remand so that this Court could rule on the Rule 60(b) motion. Case No. 09-17695,

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dkt. 30. Petitioner’s Rule 60(b) motion is now before this Court.

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LEGAL STANDARD
Rule 60(b) provides for reconsideration where one or more of the following is shown: (1)

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mistake, inadvertence, surprise or excusable neglect; (2) newly discovered evidence which by due

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diligence could not have been discovered before the court's decision; (3) fraud by the adverse party; (4)

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the judgment is void; (5) the judgment has been satisfied; or (6) any other reason justifying relief. Fed.

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R. Civ. P. 60(b); School Dist. No. 1J v. ACandS Inc., 5 F.3d 1255, 1263 (9th Cir.1993). “Rule 60(b) [

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United States District Court
For the Northern District of California

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] provides a mechanism for parties to seek relief from a judgment when ‘it is no longer equitable that

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the judgment should have prospective application,’ or when there is any other reason justifying relief

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from judgment.” Jeff D. v. Kempthorne, 365 F.3d 844, 851 (9th Cir.2004) (quoting Fed. R. Civ. P.

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60(b)).

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Relief under Rule 60(b)(6) requires a party to “show ‘extraordinary circumstances,’ suggesting

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that the party is faultless in the delay.” Pioneer Inv. Services Co. v. Brunswick Associates Ltd., 507 U.S.

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380, 393 (1993). Such relief “normally will not be granted unless the moving party is able to show both

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injury and that circumstances beyond its control prevented timely action to protect its interests.” United

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States v. Alpine Land & Reservoir Co., 984 F.2d 1047, 1049 (9th Cir.1993).

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DISCUSSION

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To qualify for Rule 60(b)(6) relief, Wilridge argues that he was injured by the Court’s dismissal

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of his habeas petition as time-barred and ineligible for equitable tolling. Mot. for Relief at 7-10 (Dkt.

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20). In particular, the injury he alleges stems from the Court’s alleged refusal to accommodate his

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request to supplement the evidentiary record or hold an evidentiary hearing with respect to additional

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medical and prison records he claims would have demonstrated his eligibility for tolling. Id. In

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connection with the instant motion, the Court allowed Wilridge’s counsel to file approximately 125

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additional pages of these medical and prison files under seal. See Phillips Decl., Ex. B. (Dkt. 20-1, 2).

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These documents were hand-picked by Wilridge’s counsel from a larger set of over 1400 pages in

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Wilridge’s medical and “C-File” (prison file). Philips Decl. ¶ 3-5. Having reviewed the “new” records

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and the parties’ arguments about them, the Court agrees that an evidentiary hearing is now appropriate

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in this unusual case, for the limited purpose of deciding the Rule 60(b) motion now before the Court.

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Wilridge argues that he informed this Court in his habeas petition that “if the court deems that

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it need any more Mental health documentation to for [sic] fill the tolling period petitioner ask the court

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to expand the record . . .,” but that this Court denied the petition without affording Wilridge an

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opportunity to expand the record or to hold an evidentiary hearing. Dkt. 20 at 5. This statement hardly

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United States District Court
For the Northern District of California

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qualifies as a request. To trigger an evidentiary hearing, which is expensive and which significantly

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burdens the Court and the parties, even a pro se petitioner would have needed to say more. See Roberts,

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627 F.3d at 733 (“District courts have limited resources (especially time), and to require them to conduct

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further evidentiary hearings when there is already sufficient evidence in the record to make the relevant

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determination is needlessly wasteful.”). Moreover, Wilridge did not then have access to any of the

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additional medical and C-File records he now has by virtue of his attorney. See Dkt. 20 at 5. Thus, he

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logically could not have been requesting to supplement the record or hold a hearing on material he did

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not then possess.

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To prevail on a 60(b)(6) motion, Wilridge must show that this Court’s prior dismissal injured

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him and that circumstances beyond his control prevented his timely action. Alpine Land & Reservoir

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Co., 984 F.2d at 1049. To show injury here, Wilridge must show that he was entitled to an evidentiary

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hearing and that he was

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precedent,“[w]here the record is amply developed, and where it indicates that the petitioner’s mental

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incompetence was not so severe as to cause the untimely filing of his habeas petition, a district court is

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not obligated to hold evidentiary hearings to further develop the factual record, notwithstanding a

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petitioner's allegations of mental incompetence.” Roberts, 627 F.3d at 733; see also Laws v. Lamarque,

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351 F.3d 919, 924 (9th Cir. 2003) (“Of course, a petitioner’s statement, even if sworn, need not

prejudiced by the denial of that hearing.

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Under Ninth Circuit

convince a court that equitable tolling is justified should countervailing evidence be introduced.”).

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Where the district court does not have a full picture of a habeas petitioner’s relevant records, and those

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records are available, Ninth Circuit precedent suggests that such an evidentiary hearing is appropriate.

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See, e.g., Laws, 351 F.3d at 924-25 (Ninth Circuit reversed the district court’s dismissal of a habeas

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petition as untimely and remanded the case for further factual development where there were no medical

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records offered by either party to show petitioner’s mental state during the four years he sought to toll);

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Roberts, 627 F.3d 768 (9th Cir. 2010) (Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s refusal to hold an

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evidentiary hearing because the record was amply developed with “extensive” medical records);

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Campostrini v. Tilton, 407 Fed. Appx. 167, 168 (9th Cir. 2010) (Ninth Circuit affirmed the district

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United States District Court
For the Northern District of California

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court’s refusal to hold an evidentiary hearing because the district court reviewed “all of Petitioner’s

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medical records.”).

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At the time of the Court’s prior dismissal, the evidentiary record was ambiguous. While it

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showed evidence of mental illness, it also showed evidence of lucidity. See Pet. Reply at 6 (“While the

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records do indicate that, at times in 2006, Wilridge appeared to be doing okay on his

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medications...prison staff believed Wilridge’s behavior was becoming worse.”). At that time, the Court

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had access to only “one-tenth” of Wilridge’s relevant records. Phillips Decl. ¶ 5. At hearing,

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petitioner’s counsel argued that the additional nine-tenths now available will likely rebut the evidence

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in the one-tenth the Court initially relied on. Additionally, at hearing both parties conceded that a

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medical expert would be necessary to explain Wilridge’s state of mind over the entire four-year period,

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as opposed to the snapshots on which the Court based it’s initial dismissal order.

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To determine whether 60(b)(6) relief is appropriate here, Wilridge needs to show that his mental

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illnesses caused his untimely habeas filing. Only with such a showing can Wilridge demonstrate the

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he was injured by the prior dismissal order. Without the benefit of an evidentiary hearing with expert

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testimony to explain over 1000 pages of medical and behavioral files, the Court cannot decide whether

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its dismissal of Wilridge’s petition for failure to qualify for equitable tolling was premature. To be sure,

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refusal to hold an evidentiary hearing need not be based on having reviewed “all” or “extensive”

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records, as petitioner’s counsel suggests. See Dkt. 25 at 3. But here, where the Court had only a small

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slice of records, and additional records are available, a hearing is appropriate.

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CONCLUSION
Because the record was not amply developed, petitioner is entitled to an evidentiary hearing for

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the limited purpose of reviewing newly available medical and prison records in order to determine

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whether petitioner is entitled to equitable tolling based on a mental illness, and therefore to 60(b)(6)

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relief. The Court hereby ORDERS an evidentiary hearing and directs the parties to meet and confer

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to select a hearing date (afternoons, Monday - Thursday only) to be approved by the Court. The parties

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United States District Court
For the Northern District of California

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are further instructed to file a letter indicating the preferred date or dates with the Court no later than

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February 4, 2013.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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DATED: January 23, 2013

_______________________
SUSAN ILLSTON
United States District Judge

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