Nellum v. Covello
- Jeffrey White
- 4:22-cv-04735
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 3
In Nellum v. Covello, Judge White dismissed Nellum’s late conviction challenge and granted permission to proceed without paying court fees.
Dashaun Nellum’s federal petition challenging his state-court conviction was dismissed as untimely; the court granted his request to proceed without paying the filing fee.
What happened
In Nellum v. Covello, Dashaun Nellum, a California prisoner representing himself, challenged his state-court conviction through a federal petition. He was sentenced to 25 years to life in 2000, and the court said his direct appeal became final in 2006 or, at the latest, early 2007.
The court ruled that the petition, signed in July 2022, was filed at least 15 years too late under the one-year filing deadline for these petitions. It found no basis to extend or pause that deadline and said Nellum’s general claim that dismissal would cause an unjust result did not meet the legal exception for showing actual innocence.
Judge Jeffrey White dismissed the petition, granted Nellum permission to proceed without paying court fees, and directed the Clerk to enter judgment and close the case.
The detailed version
- Nellum v. Covello · No. 4:22-cv-04735
- Jeffrey White
- Aug. 22, 2022
Background
Dashaun Nellum, a California state prisoner proceeding without a lawyer, filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 challenging his state-court conviction. The opinion states that he received a sentence of 25 years to life on March 17, 2000. Nellum indicated that the California Supreme Court denied his direct appeal in 2006. The court stated that, at the latest, the time for seeking further direct review expired in early 2007.
Nellum signed the federal petition on July 20, 2022, which the court treated as the earliest filing date. He stated that he had filed no other post-conviction petitions in the state courts before filing this case, although he said post-conviction proceedings were then pending in the California Court of Appeal and the California Supreme Court.
Timeliness ruling
The federal statute of limitations generally requires a prisoner challenging a noncapital state conviction or sentence to file within one year after the judgment becomes final, subject to certain alternative starting dates. The court found that none of those alternative dates applied. Based on the 2006 or early-2007 finality date, the court concluded that the petition was filed at least 15 years after the deadline expired.
The court also found no basis for statutory tolling, which pauses the filing period while a qualifying state petition is pending, because Nellum had not filed a state habeas petition before the federal limitations period ended. The court said no basis for equitable tolling, an extension based on extraordinary circumstances, was asserted or apparent.
Nellum argued in conclusory terms that relief was necessary to prevent a miscarriage of justice. The court explained that this exception is limited to a showing that a constitutional violation probably caused the conviction of an actually innocent person. It found that Nellum did not claim actual innocence, but instead made legal arguments about why he was entitled to relief. The court also found no indication that his claims could not have been raised within the limitations period.
Disposition
The court ordered that the petition be DISMISSED as untimely. It also granted leave to proceed in forma pauperis, meaning Nellum could proceed without paying the court filing fee, and told him to disregard the earlier deficiency notice concerning that application. The Clerk was directed to enter judgment and close the file.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.