Lance Williams v. Ralph Diaz

I.

INTRODUCTION

Petitioner Lance Williams (“Petitioner”) has filed a pro se Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus (“Petition”) pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. It appears, however, the Petition is subject to dismissal as untimely. The Court will provide Petitioner an opportunity to address this issue before making a final determination regarding whether the Petition should be dismissed.

II.

BACKGROUND

A. STATE COURT PROCEEDINGS

On January 22, 2014, Petitioner was convicted of attempted extortion, stalking, and dissuading a witness after a jury trial in Los Angeles Superior Court. Dkt. 1, Pet. at 2, 11-28. Ina bifurcated trial the jury also found true the puior conviction allegations. Id. On March 18, 2014, the trial court sentenced Petitioner to an aggregate state prison term of thirteen years and eight months. Id. Petitioner appealed his conviction to the California Court of Appeal, which affirmed the judgment in a reasoned decision on December 22, 2015. Id. at 2-3, 11-28. Petitioner then filed a

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petition for review in the California Supreme Court, which was denied on March 15,…