Felton Lee Guillory v. Ernest C. Roe, Warden

CYNTHIA HOLCOMB HALL, Circuit Judge.

California state prisoner Felton Lee Guillory appeals the district court’s dismissal of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The district court held that the statute of limitations mandated by the An-titerrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (“AEDPA”) rendered Guillory’s petition untimely. The sole issue on appeal is whether Guillory is entitled to equitable tolling by virtue of the district court’s erroneous dismissal of a prior habeas petition containing unexhausted claims without giving him the option to amend. Because equitable tolling is unavailable where, as here, a petitioner did not exercise reasonable diligence, we AFFIRM.

FACTS

Guillory is currently serving a life sentence following his 1984 conviction for murder, attempted murder and kidnaping. Guillory filed a federal habeas petition on April 21, 1997, two days before the AEDPA statute of limitations expired. See Ford v. Hubbard, 305 F.3d 875 , 882 (9th Cir.2002) (explaining that convictions which became final before AEDPA’s effective date of April 24, 1996, are timely only if filed before April 24, 1997). Guillory’s 1997 petition contained three categories of…