Blanding v. Miller

Background

David Grant-Blanding, who was incarcerated at Green Haven Correctional Facility, filed a petition for federal habeas relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 without a lawyer. He challenged an April 4, 1990, New York County conviction for first-degree robbery. He had pleaded guilty, been adjudicated a second felony offender, and received a sentence of five to ten years. He stated that he had filed a notice of appeal but had not completed the appeal.

In September 2019, Grant-Blanding filed a state-court motion arguing that he had been improperly adjudicated and sentenced as a second felony offender because the prior felony used against him was incorrect and invalid. The state trial court denied that motion, and the appellate courts denied leave to appeal. Grant-Blanding raised the same argument in his federal petition.

The opinion states that publicly available records from the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision showed that Grant-Blanding was serving an 18-year-to-life sentence for a different conviction for attempted first-degree burglary. He had been taken into custody on that conviction on February 3, 2011.

Reasons for the ruling

The court explained that federal habeas jurisdiction generally requires a person to be in custody under the state conviction or sentence being challenged when the petition is filed. Because Grant-Blanding had completely served the five-to-ten-year sentence from the 1990 conviction and was incarcerated for another conviction, the court held that he was no longer in custody under the challenged conviction and could not challenge its validity in this proceeding.

The court separately held that the petition was barred by the federal one-year filing deadline. The 1990 conviction became final approximately 30 days after judgment, when the time to file a notice of appeal expired. Grant-Blanding placed the petition in the prison mail collection box on March 9, 2022, nearly 32 years after the conviction became final.

The court rejected Grant-Blanding’s argument that his September 2019 state post-conviction motion made the federal petition timely. A state post-conviction motion can pause the federal limitations period only if it is filed before that period expires. A motion filed after the deadline does not restart the period. Because Grant-Blanding filed his motion after the federal deadline had already expired, it did not pause or restart the limitations period.

Disposition

Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain denied the application for habeas relief because Grant-Blanding was no longer in custody under the challenged conviction and the petition was time-barred. The court also declined to direct him to file a declaration explaining why the petition should not be denied, concluding that doing so would be futile.

The court ruled that a certificate of appealability would not issue because Grant-Blanding had not made a substantial showing that a constitutional right was denied. It also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying the filing fee.