Hairston v. Bell
- Nelson Roman
- 7:21-cv-06503
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Hairston v. Bell, Judge Davison ordered briefing on whether Hairston’s petition challenging his conviction was timely.
Hairston and Bell were directed to submit supplemental briefs about whether the federal petition was timely; the court did not decide the petition’s underlying claims.
What happened
In Hairston v. Bell, Hairston, representing himself, filed a federal petition challenging his June 24, 2016 state-court conviction. The opinion states that his conviction became final on July 8, 2019, and that he placed his petition in the prison mailing system on July 27, 2021.
The court noted that federal law generally gives one year to file such a petition. It also explained that state post-conviction proceedings can pause that period but do not restart it. Hairston filed a state writ on July 9, 2020, after the one-year period may already have expired, and neither side had addressed whether the federal petition was timely.
The court did not decide the petition’s underlying claims. United States Magistrate Judge Paul E. Davison directed Hairston and Bell to submit supplemental briefs limited to timeliness within 45 days of the order.
The detailed version
- Hairston v. Bell · No. 7:21-cv-06503
- Nelson Roman
- Mar. 18, 2022
Background
Hairston, proceeding without a lawyer, filed a federal habeas petition—a request for federal relief from a state-court conviction—against Earl Bell, identified in the caption as superintendent of Clinton Correctional Facility. The petition challenges Hairston’s June 24, 2016 conviction in New York Supreme Court, Westchester County.
The New York Appellate Division, Second Department affirmed the conviction on December 19, 2018. The New York Court of Appeals denied leave to appeal on April 8, 2019. The court determined that the conviction became final on July 8, 2019, after the 90-day period for seeking review by the U.S. Supreme Court expired. Hairston placed the federal petition in the prison mailing system on July 27, 2021.
Timeliness issue
The court explained that the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act generally imposes a one-year limitations period for a federal petition challenging a state conviction. The statute has several possible starting points, and the latest applicable one controls.
The court also explained that the limitations period is paused while a properly filed state application for post-conviction or other collateral relief is pending. That process pauses the running of the period but does not restart it. A state application filed after the federal limitations period has expired does not pause the period.
Hairston filed a writ of error coram nobis on July 9, 2020. The Appellate Division denied it on December 30, 2020, and the New York Court of Appeals denied leave to appeal on May 26, 2021. The opinion states that neither Hairston nor Bell had addressed timeliness and that the petition may be barred by the one-year limitations period.
Ruling
Judge Paul E. Davison directed both parties to submit supplemental briefs addressing only whether the petition was timely under the one-year limitations period. The briefs were due within 45 days of the order. The court did not decide whether the petition was timely and did not reach the underlying challenges to Hairston’s conviction.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.