Hawkins v. The State Of Texas, 2:11-cv-00288

Hawkins, Petitioner, challenges a Texas conviction for aggravated sexual assault and related offenses.
Respondent is Rick Thaler, Director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division.
Petition for federal habeas corpus relief was filed on August 15, 2011 after state court proceedings.
AEDPA imposes a one-year statute of limitations for federal habeas petitions, starting from finality of state court judgments.
Petitioner’s state-court judgments became final on May 13, 2008; federal petition filed well over three years later.
Magistrate Judge recommended granting summary judgment and denying a certificate of appealability as time-barred.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the petition is time-barred under AEDPA	Hawkins argues limitations can be tolled and are not absolute.	Thaler contends the petition was filed outside the one-year period and cannot be saved by tolling.	Time-barred under AEDPA
Whether equitable tolling applies to extend the deadline	Hawkins claims extraordinary circumstances and reasonable diligence warrant tolling.	Thaler asserts no extraordinary circumstances shown and tolling is unwarranted.	No equitable tolling warranted
Whether state-court procedural delay tolls the federal deadline under 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(2)	Delay in state-court actions should toll the federal clock.	Delay does not save untimely federal filing because petition filed after tolling period and delay was procedural.	State-court delay did not render petition timely

Prieto v. Quarterman, 456 F.3d 511 (5th Cir. 2006) (finality and tolling considerations for AEDPA)
Foreman v. Dretke, 383 F.3d 336 (5th Cir. 2004) (timeliness and equitable tolling standards)
United States v. Petty, 530 F.3d 361 (5th Cir. 2008) (equitable tolling available only in rare, exceptional circumstances)
Wynn v. United States, 292 F.3d 226 (5th Cir. 2002) (tolling standards for AEDPA limitations)