Knowles

MEMORANDUM *

La Merle Ronnie Johnson appeals a district court order dismissing his habeas petition as untimely. Johnson does not dispute that he failed to file his federal habeas petition within the one-year statute of limitations imposed by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA). See 28 U.S.C. § 2244 (d)(1)(A). Rather, he contends that the deadline should have been equitably or statutorily tolled.

Equitable tolling is appropriate when “external forces, rather than a petitioner’s lack of diligence, account for the failure to file a timely claim.” Miles v. Prunty, 187 F.3d 1104, 1107 (9th Cir.1999). Johnson argues that three factors prevented him from filing a timely claim in the state courts: the inadequacy of the CSP-SATF C-Yard prison legal library, the county prosecutor’s refusal to turn over documents, and his trial counsel’s refusal to turn over files. The district court denied equitable tolling on all three grounds. We affirm.

The district court found that the legal materials in the CSP-SATF C-Yard were not so inadequate as to prevent Johnson from filing a state habeas application. We affirm that finding. We also affirm the district court’s…

concurring in part and dissenting in part.

I agree with the opinion of the court that equitable tolling is not warranted. But I cannot join the decision to reverse the district court on statutory tolling grounds. Johnson failed to demonstrate before the district court that he qualified for statutory tolling. He should not have another opportunity to do so here.

I

Johnson is currently serving a life plus eleven-year sentence in California state prison after a jury convicted him of kidnap for ransom, assault with a deadly weapon, robbery, and use of a firearm. Johnson unsuccessfully appealed his conviction through the California state system. The California Supreme Court denied direct review of Johnson’s case on November 19, 1997.

Johnson asserts that he then filed his first “application for post-conviction relief’ in San Mateo Superior Court between May and July, 1998. This petition, which he refers to as a “motion/writ,” is not included in the record. 1 Johnson alleges that this petition requested the state court to order the district attorney to release documents Johnson believed were necessary to devel *825 op his constitutional claims. Specifically, Johnson asserts that he…