Thorson
Thorson v. Palmer
Opinion
Opinion
Background
Thorson was convicted in California state court of second degree murder. His conviction was affirmed on direct review and became final on June 25, 1997.
Thorson unsuccessfully sought habeas relief in California Superior Court 114 days later. More than a year and a month after the denial of his first state habeas petition, Thorson filed a second habeas petition in the California Court of Appeal. His second petition was denied without comment or citation. Twenty-one days later, Thorson filed a third habeas petition THORSON v. PALMER 1899 in the California Supreme Court. That court denied Thorson’s third petition with the following order, which stated in its entirety:
Petition for writ of habeas corpus is DENIED. (See In re Robbins (1998) 18 Cal. 4th 770, 780.).
On January 31, 2002, 124 days after the Supreme Court’s summary denial, Thorson filed the present petition for habeas corpus in federal district court. The district court denied the federal petition as untimely, finding that Thorson was not entitled to tolling under 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(2) because the California Supreme Court had denied his state habeas petition as untimely.