Rodney Blach v. John Dovey

MEMORANDUM

Petitioner Rodney Blach (Blach) appeals the district court’s dismissal of his untimely petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 . He contends that he was prevented from filing a timely petition due to difficulty gaining access to his legal papers, being placed in isolation, and his transfer to a different prison facility.

Blach argues that due to extraordinary circumstances and his diligence to overcome those circumstances, he is entitled to equitable tolling. See Lakey v. Hickman, 633 F.3d 782, 784 (9th Cir.2011), as amended. But the ability to file other petitions for post-conviction relief during the AEDPA limitations period demonstrates that a petitioner also had the ability to file a federal habeas petition. See Roberts v. Marshall, 627 F.3d 768, 773 (9th Cir.2010) (holding that the district court properly denied petitioner’s request for an evidentiary hearing on equitable tolling where the petitioner filed several petitions for post-conviction relief containing the same arguments presented in his federal habeas petition). Blach was able to prepare a truncated twenty-four page state petition raising the same claims as his belated federal…