Jimmy Bills v. Kenneth Clark

MEMORANDUM

In the prior appeal of this case, Bills v. Clark, 628 F.3d 1092 (9th Cir.2010), we articulated a two-part test for deciding whether a mental impairment constitutes an “extraordinary circumstance” sufficient to equitably toll a prisoner’s time to file a petition for habeas corpus relief under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996.

Under the first prong, Bills explains that a mental impairment is an “extraordinary circumstance” only when it is “so severe that either (a) petitioner was unable rationally or factually to personally understand the need to timely file, or (b) petitioner’s mental state rendered him unable to personally” prepare and file the habeas petition. Bills, 628 F.3d at 1099-1100 . Bills’s second prong requires the prisoner to show that, despite his diligence, “the mental impairment made it impossible to meet the filing deadline under the totality of the circumstances.” Id. at 1100 . Stated another way, to be eligible for equitable tolling, the otherwise diligent petitioner’s mental impairment must be the cause-in-fact of any delay. See Stancle v. Clay, 692 F.3d 948, 959 (9th Cir.2012) cert. denied, — U.S. —, 133 S.Ct. 1465 , 185…