Alan E. Bertran v. United States Central District
Opinion
trial_court Opinion
discussion. Each of those arguments is addressed in this Order. 26 A. Petitioner’s Lack of Legal Sophistication 27 Petitioner challenges the conclusions of the Magistrate Judge about 28 1 Petitioner’s lack of diligence in learning of the denial of his state court 2 petition for review. He argues that this determination overlooks that 3 Petitioner is a layman who had no reason not to rely on his appointed counsel 4 to provide him with timely notice that the petition for review had been denied. 5 [See Dkt. No. 28 at 6-8]. 1 However, Petitioner did not have to have legal 6 training to know that he could ask his appointed counsel about the status of 7 the petition for review during the nearly two-year period after which it had 8 been denied. Further, the Ninth Circuit has held that “a pro se petitioner’s 9 lack of legal sophistication is not, by itself, an extraordinary circumstance 10 warranting equitable tolling.” Rasberry v. Garcia, 448 F.3d 1150, 1154 (9th 11 Cir. 2006); Waldron-Ramsey v. Pacholke, 556 F.3d 1008, 1013 n.4 (9th Cir. 12 2009) (“[W]e have held that a pro se petitioner’s confusion or ignorance of the 13 law is not, itself, a circumstance warranting…