Arthur Johnson v. James Yates

MEMORANDUM

Arthur Eugene Johnson appeals the district court’s judgment dismissing as untimely his § 2254 habeas corpus petition. See 28 U.S.C. § 2254 . We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2253 (a), and we now affirm.

On March 13, 2007, Mr. Johnson’s state-court conviction for attempted murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm became final and triggered the running of the one-year statute of limitations for filing a federal habeas petition under § 101 of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (“AEDPA”). See 28 U.S.C. § 2244 (d)(1). The limitations period was tolled during the pendency of Mr. Johnson’s state habeas proceedings, which spanned September 8, 2007, through September 10, 2008. See 28 U.S.C. § 2244 (d)(2). Mr. Johnson’s petition, therefore, had to be filed no later than March 17, 2009.

Mr. Johnson was placed in administrative segregation from December 16, 2008, to February 5, 2009, after he got in a fight with another inmate. During this time, he did not have access to his legal papers. After Mr. Johnson was released from administrative segregation, he completed his federal habeas petition and gave it to prison authorities to be mailed.…