Gustavo Gomez v. State of California, 702 F. App'x 872

Gustavo Gomez, a California prisoner housed in Florida under an interstate compact, sued California and a Ventura County ADA in 2015 under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging due-process violations related to his 1994 murder conviction (insufficient motive/evidence, withheld evidence).
The district court ordered an amended complaint; Gomez filed one with greater specificity.
The magistrate judge screened the amended complaint under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(e) and 1915A and recommended dismissal as time-barred.
The district court dismissed the suit with prejudice, concluding it was untimely under either Florida or California statutes of limitations.
Gomez appealed; the Eleventh Circuit reviewed de novo whether dismissal for failure to state a claim was proper based on statute-of-limitations grounds.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Gomez's § 1983 claim is time-barred	Gomez contends the merits (constitutional violations) warrant relief; did not allege facts supporting tolling	The State argues the claim accrued at conviction and was filed decades after accrual, so barred by applicable SOL	Court held the claim was time-barred under either Florida (4 yrs) or California (1 yr, with certain tolling) law and affirmed dismissal
Whether tolling (statutory or equitable) saves the claim	Gomez did not plead statutory or equitable tolling facts	Defendants argued no statutory tolling applies (Florida) and Gomez made no equitable-tolling showing	Court held statutory tolling did not apply and Gomez abandoned any equitable-tolling argument, so tolling did not revive the claim

Hughes v. Lott, 350 F.3d 1157 (11th Cir. 2003) (standard of review for § 1915 dismissals and treating allegations as true)
Douglas v. Yates, 535 F.3d 1316 (11th Cir. 2008) (Rule 12(b)(6) standards apply to § 1915 dismissals)
Gonsalvez v. Celebrity Cruises Inc., 750 F.3d 1195 (11th Cir. 2014) (dismissal on statute-of-limitations grounds appropriate when time-bar appears on face of complaint)
Lovett v. Ray, 327 F.3d 1181 (11th Cir. 2003) (appellate review of applicable statute-of-limitations ruling)
Timson v. Sampson, 518 F.3d 870 (11th Cir. 2008) (pro se litigants' unbriefed issues are deemed abandoned)
City of Hialeah v. Rojas, 311 F.3d 1096 (11th Cir. 2002) (§ 1983 claims borrow the forum state's residual personal injury statute of limitations)
Canatella v. Van De Kamp, 486 F.3d 1128 (9th Cir. 2007) (California's former one-year limitations period for certain claims)
Dukes v. Smitherman, 32 F.3d 535 (11th Cir. 1994) (apply statutory tolling rules of the state statute used)
Johnson v. California, 207 F.3d 650 (9th Cir. 2000) (California tolling rules for pre-1995 accruals)
Fink v. Shedler, 192 F.3d 911 (9th Cir. 1999) (equitable tolling standards)