Quintin Phillippe JONES, Petitioner-Appellant v. Rick THALER, DIRECTOR, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division, Respondent-Appellee.
No. 09-70019.
United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.
June 17, 2010.
380
Lydia M. Brandt, The Brandt Law Firm, Richardson, TX, for Petitioner-Appellant. Jeremy Craig Greenwell, Office of the Attorney General, Law Enforcement Defense Div., Austin, TX, for Respondent-Appellee. Before HIGGINBOTHAM, DENNIS, and ELROD, Circuit Judges.
This appeal concerns the application of equitable tolling under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act.1 Jones contends that his failure to timely file a federal habeas petition should be excused as his attorney‘s conduct was so deficient as to amount to an extraordinary circumstance warranting tolling. The district court dismissed his petition, finding that under this court‘s jurisprudence, Jones was not entitled to tolling and that therefore his petition was time-barred. The Supreme Court recently spoke to the issues raised in this case in its opinion in Holland v. Florida.2 In order to permit the district court first consideration of Jones‘s petition in light of the Court‘s holding in Holland, we VACATE and REMAND.