Benito Luna v. Scott Kernan

Benito Luna is a California state prisoner serving a life sentence for first-degree murder and attempted robbery. He filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in federal court more than six years after the statutory filing deadline had passed. To avoid the time bar, he invokes the doctrine of equitable tolling, which allows a court to suspend the running of the statute of limitations in certain circumstances. In this case, Luna contends that his lawyer’s professional misconduct provides a basis for equitable tolling. We are asked to decide whether the district court correctly rejected that contention.

I

Because claims for equitable tolling are inherently fact-intensive, we must begin with a fairly detailed description of the facts underlying Luna’s claim.

Luna’s state-court convictions became final on December 30, 2003. Under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA), Luna had one year from that date to file his federal habeas petition, subject to statutory tolling for any period during which a “properly filed” application for state post-conviction relief was pending. 28 U.S.C. § 2244 (d)(2). Luna filed a pro se federal habeas petition well…