Taylor v. Michael

Dist. Ct. did not err in denying defendant’s habeas petition challenging his state conviction on charges relating to inappropriate relationships with several minor children, where Dist. Ct. found that said petition was untimely since it was filed more than one year after Ill. Supreme Ct.’s May 28, 2009 denial of his PLA that challenged denial of his post-conviction petition. While defendant argued that he was entitled to equitable tolling since he was not aware of PLA denial until July 29, 2009, and only became aware in January of 2010 that his prior counsel would not be filing habeas petition, defendant failed to satisfy diligence test under Holland, 130 S.Ct. 2549, where: (1) defendant had four months in which to file timely habeas petition; and (2) defendant failed to confirm due date of petition prior to filing it three months after deadline. Fact that either defendant’s prior counsel or defendant himself miscalculated deadline did not require different result.