George Gibbs v. Robert Legrand

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

GEORGE W. GIBBS, No. 12-16859 Petitioner-Appellant, D.C. No. v. 2:11-cv-00750-

KJD-CWH

ROBERT LEGRAND, Warden;

ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR THE STATE OPINION

OF NEVADA,

Respondents-Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Nevada Kent J. Dawson, Senior District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted March 13, 2014—San Francisco, California

Filed September 17, 2014

Before: Sidney R. Thomas, Raymond C. Fisher, and Marsha S. Berzon, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge Berzon SUMMARY*

Habeas Corpus

The panel reversed the district court’s order dismissing a habeas corpus petition as untimely, and remanded for consideration of the petition on the merits.

The panel held that the petitioner’s attorney’s misconduct was an extraordinary circumstance which directly caused the petitioner not to learn that the time for him to file his federal habeas petition had begun until the time was over – where counsel did not inform the petitioner that state post- conviction proceedings had ended, even though…