Cortez Delano Peterson v. Warden Angela Stuff

Summary

This Report and Recommendation addresses Cortez Delano Peterson’s 28 U.S.C. § 2254 habeas petition challenging convictions and sentence arising from fentanyl-related offenses and resisting arrest. The magistrate judge recommends denying both requests for a stay, granting dismissal without prejudice under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(2), and applying prospective equitable tolling subject to conditions requiring Peterson to pursue state remedies concerning a nunc pro tunc sentencing entry and timely return to federal court.

Holdings

1. A stay and abeyance should be denied because Peterson did not establish good cause for failing to exhaust the relevant claims before filing the federal petition and did not provide enough information to show that the claims he intended to pursue were not plainly meritless.
2. The petition should be dismissed without prejudice under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(2).
3. Limited prospective equitable tolling should apply to the claims in the petition while Peterson pursues state remedies concerning the nunc pro tunc entry, provided that he initiates those proceedings within thirty days of dismissal and returns to federal court within thirty days after exhausting them.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Peterson was entitled to a stay and abeyance while pursuing additional state-court proceedings under the Rhines standard.
2. Whether the petition should be voluntarily dismissed without prejudice under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(2).
3. Whether limited prospective equitable tolling should apply to protect the petition’s claims while Peterson exhausts state remedies concerning the nunc pro tunc sentencing entry.

Disposition

dismissed