Lyndon C. Myers v. Dean Epps, et al.

Summary

The United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi overruled Lyndon C. Myers’s objections to a magistrate judge’s Report and Recommendation in his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 habeas proceeding. The court held that the petition was untimely under AEDPA, rejected the asserted due process claim concerning state post-conviction proceedings, denied an evidentiary hearing, and dismissed the petition as time-barred.

Holdings

1. The factual-predicate exception under 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(1)(D) begins when the petitioner is on notice of the facts supporting the claim, not when the petitioner obtains additional evidence supporting that claim. Because Myers knew of Young's alleged falsehoods during the 2012 trial, the Young Affidavit did not restart the limitations period, and the petition was untimely.
2. The court declined to consider Myers's equitable-tolling and actual-innocence arguments because he raised them for the first time in objections to the magistrate judge's Report and Recommendation.
3. Alleged errors in the application of state law during state collateral post-conviction proceedings do not state a cognizable claim for federal habeas relief.
4. Myers was not entitled to a federal evidentiary hearing because he failed to identify relevant factual disputes requiring development to resolve the statute-of-limitations issue, and the factual predicate on which he relied was already known to him.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Myers's federal habeas petition was timely under AEDPA's factual-predicate exception in 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(1)(D).
2. Whether equitable tolling and actual-innocence arguments were properly before the district court when first raised in objections to the magistrate judge's Report and Recommendation.
3. Whether alleged errors in the state post-conviction proceedings stated a cognizable federal due-process claim.
4. Whether Myers was entitled to a federal evidentiary hearing concerning the Young Affidavit.

Disposition

dismissed