Cross

California prisoner Terrell Cross appeals the district court’s denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus, claiming that the district court incorrectly interpreted an earlier ruling by the California Supreme Court on one of Cross’s state habeas petitions. The district court read that ruling as denying Cross’s state court relief because Cross’s petition in state court had been untimely filed. The district court therefore denied Cross’s federal petition on the ground that it was barred by the one-year statute of limitations under 28 U.S.C. § 2244 (d)(1)(A), which tolls the statute of limitations during the pendency of a state court petition, but only if that state petition is properly and timely filed. This case requires us to determine whether, when the California Supreme Court denies a habeas petition with citations to Ex parte Swain, 34 Cal.2d 300 , 209 P.2d 793, 796 (1949), and People v. Duvall, 9 Cal.4th 464 , 37 Cal.Rptr.2d 259 , 886 P.2d 1252, 1258 (1995), the denial is necessarily based on untimeliness.

We agree with Cross that the answer is no and that the district court did not correctly apply California law in determining that the California Supreme…