KONTAXES v. GARMAN, 2:19-cv-00568

In January 2001 Petitioner Gregory Kontaxes allegedly assaulted his elderly parents; he was charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, and harassment.
At a December 2001 competency hearing a forensic psychiatrist testified Kontaxes was legally insane at the time of the offense and not competent to stand trial; the trial court rejected a guilty-but-mentally-ill plea then because competence and sanity could not be determined.
Kontaxes was later found competent, proceeded to trial in July 2002, was convicted, and sentenced to 10–20 years; the Superior Court vacated that conviction in 2003 and the state courts ultimately remanded for a ruling on his motion to reinstate a guilty-but-mentally-ill plea.
On August 4, 2006 Kontaxes entered a guilty-but-mentally-ill plea and was sentenced to 10–20 years; he obtained leave to file a nunc pro tunc appeal in 2007 but state appellate review concluded against him by July 2009.
Kontaxes filed multiple pro se PCRA petitions between 2009 and 2016; the fourth PCRA was held untimely by the Pennsylvania courts, and the state Supreme Court denied allowance of appeal in December 2016.
Kontaxes filed the instant federal habeas petition on May 9, 2019; the magistrate judge dismissed it as untimely under AEDPA and denied a certificate of appealability.

Issue	Kontaxes's Argument	Respondents' Argument	Held
1. Whether counsel was ineffective for failing to transfer case to mental-health court	Counsel should have sought transfer to mental-health court	Habeas is time-barred under AEDPA; merits not reached	Dismissed as untimely under AEDPA; merits not considered
2. Whether Petitioner was legally incompetent to stand trial/plead/appeal	Petitioner lacked competence at trial/plea and during appeals	Same timeliness defense; no timely claim to overcome AEDPA bar	Dismissed as untimely; competency claims not reached on merits

Swartz v. Meyers, 204 F.3d 417 (3d Cir. 2000) (judgment becomes final after direct review or expiration of time to seek review)
Fielder v. Varner, 379 F.3d 113 (3d Cir. 2004) (AEDPA limitations applied claim-by-claim)
Pace v. DiGuglielmo, 544 U.S. 408 (2005) (untimely state petitions are not "properly filed" and do not toll AEDPA)
Holland v. Florida, 560 U.S. 631 (2010) (equitable tolling may apply for extraordinary circumstances)
McQuiggin v. Perkins, 569 U.S. 383 (2013) (actual-innocence gateway to overcome procedural bars)
Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473 (2000) (standards for issuing a certificate of appealability when petition denied on procedural grounds)
Houston v. Lack, 487 U.S. 266 (1988) (prison mailbox rule for filing dates)
Commonwealth v. Kontaxes, 961 A.2d 1277 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2008) (state appellate disposition cited in procedural history)
Commonwealth v. Kontaxes, 981 A.2d 218 (Pa. 2009) (state supreme court disposition cited in procedural history)