Postconviction Statue of Limitations – Equitable Tolling

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Kunta Gray v. Dushan Zatecky, Superintendent, Pendleton Correctional Facility

Case No.: 15-2482

Officials: WOOD, Chief Judge, and ROVNER and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Postconviction Statue of Limitations  – Equitable Tolling

During a drug deal that went bad, shots were fired and Gregory Jones was fatally wounded. The police arrested Kunta Gray for the crime, and a Marion County (Indiana) jury later convicted him, twice, for the murder and associated offenses. The Indiana courts ultimately upheld the convictions, and so Gray filed this action in federal court, seeking a writ of habeas corpus on several grounds. See 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Before we can reach those arguments, however, we must assure ourselves that his petition was timely. It is only if Gray qualifies for equitable tolling, because he filed after the one-year time limit for such petitions. 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d). We agree with the district court that he failed to make the necessary showing, and so we affirm its judgment.

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.