Cottell v. Reardon
- Vincent Briccetti
- 7:22-cv-01178
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Cottell v. Reardon, Judge Briccetti denied Adam Cottell’s habeas petition as untimely and declined a certificate of appealability.
Adam Cottell’s federal petition was denied, and the case was closed. Patrick Reardon was the respondent.
What happened
In Cottell v. Reardon, Adam Cottell, who was representing himself, asked a federal court to review his New York state convictions after pleading guilty to several offenses. The state appellate court affirmed his convictions, and New York’s highest court declined to review them.
A magistrate judge recommended denying the petition because Cottell filed it after the federal one-year deadline had expired. The recommendation also found that Cottell had not shown he was entitled to extra time because he did not act diligently and did not show that COVID-related law-library shutdowns prevented a timely filing. Cottell submitted no objections.
Judge Vincent L. Briccetti adopted the recommendation and denied the petition. The court closed the case, declined to issue a certificate of appealability, and denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees.
The detailed version
- Cottell v. Reardon · No. 7:22-cv-01178
- Vincent Briccetti
- June 6, 2023
Background
Adam Cottell filed a petition asking the federal court to review his state-court convictions. He had pleaded guilty in Dutchess County Court to aggravated sexual abuse in the first degree, criminal sexual act in the first degree, criminal mischief in the fourth degree, and endangering the welfare of a child. He received concurrent ten-year prison terms and ten years of post-release supervision for the aggravated sexual abuse and criminal sexual act charges, along with one-year prison terms for the criminal mischief and child-endangerment charges.
The Appellate Division, Second Department, affirmed the convictions, and Cottell’s request for permission to appeal to the New York Court of Appeals was denied. Cottell then filed this federal petition without a lawyer.
Report and Recommendation
Magistrate Judge Paul E. Davison recommended denying the petition in its entirety as time-barred. Under 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(1), the federal filing deadline expired on February 10, 2021. Cottell filed this petition on January 24, 2022.
Judge Davison also concluded that Cottell was not entitled to equitable tolling, which can extend a filing deadline in limited circumstances. The recommendation found that Cottell did not act with reasonable diligence after learning that the Dutchess County Court had denied his motion under New York Criminal Procedure Law § 440.10. It also found that he had not shown that COVID-related law-library shutdowns prevented him from filing on time.
The report and recommendation was mailed to Cottell on March 8, 2023. He filed no objections.
District Court’s Ruling
The district court reviewed the report and recommendation, the petition, and the underlying record. It found no error, including no clear error, and adopted the report and recommendation as the court’s opinion.
The petition for a writ of habeas corpus was DENIED. The Clerk was instructed to enter judgment and close the case. The court also ruled that a certificate of appealability would not issue because Cottell had not made a substantial showing that a constitutional right had been denied. Finally, the court certified that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.