Gustafson v. Bolin

Background

Joseph Duane Gustafson, Jr., who represented himself, filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 asking for federal relief from his Minnesota state-court convictions and 210-month sentence. His claims concerned ineffective assistance of trial and appellate counsel, allegedly false evidence, and alleged failures to disclose evidence. The petition was filed on July 25, 2019.

A magistrate judge recommended dismissing the petition as untimely, granting the motion to dismiss filed for Keith Ellison, denying discovery, and denying a certificate of appealability. Gustafson objected and filed an actual-innocence motion, a motion for discovery, a motion concerning Minnesota Rule 144, a motion for a certificate of appealability, and an application to proceed without paying fees or costs.

Limitations Period

The court held that Gustafson’s state-court judgment became final on December 14, 2015, so the ordinary one-year federal filing period ended on December 14, 2016. His state postconviction petition was not filed until May 18, 2017, after that deadline. The court found that he did not show a state-created impediment that prevented timely filing. His evidence concerning access to legal files, discovery materials, trial materials, and an audio-forensics specialist did not establish such an impediment.

The court also held that the factual bases for his claims were known, or could have been known, during trial or direct appeal. The later audio-forensics report therefore did not create a new factual basis that delayed the filing period. The court further found that Gustafson did not satisfy the requirements for equitable tolling, which can extend a filing deadline when a person diligently pursues rights but an extraordinary circumstance beyond that person’s control causes the delay.

Actual Innocence

The court applied the standard requiring new evidence so strong that, considering it, no reasonable juror would have found Gustafson guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. It rejected his argument that a different standard applied.

The court found that the affidavit from Charlie Laymon concerned an arson apparently unrelated to Gustafson’s convictions. The affidavit from Greg Chamberlain did not refute Gustafson’s involvement in the drug sale underlying one conviction. The audio-forensics report showed edits or gaps in a recording but did not meet the demanding actual-innocence standard, particularly because the controlled-buy participant and an investigating officer also testified about the gun purchase. Newspaper articles about alleged misconduct in other cases did not concern Gustafson’s case. The court therefore denied the Actual Innocence Motion.

Other Rulings

The court ruled that Keith Ellison was not the proper respondent in this federal custody case and that Gustafson’s possible challenge to Minnesota’s racketeering statute was not raised as a ground for relief in the petition. It granted the motion to dismiss Ellison.

Because the petition was untimely, the court denied as moot Gustafson’s motions for discovery and for assertion of Minnesota Rule 144. It denied an evidentiary hearing, declined to issue a certificate of appealability, and denied as moot Gustafson’s application to proceed without prepaying fees or costs.

Disposition

Judge Susan Richard Nelson overruled Gustafson’s objections, adopted the Report and Recommendation as modified, dismissed the § 2254 petition with prejudice as untimely, granted the motion to dismiss Keith Ellison, denied the Actual Innocence Motion, denied as moot the discovery and Rule 144 motions, denied the certificate-of-appealability motion, denied an evidentiary hearing, and denied as moot the fee application.