Pigram v. Williams

• Decision Date: 19 April 2016
• Docket Number: No. 15 C 3794,15 C 3794
• Citation: 182 F.Supp.3d 861
• Parties: Frederick Pigram, MO4287 Petitioner, v. Tarry Williams, Warden, Stateville Correctional Center, Respondent.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois

182 F.Supp.3d 861

Frederick Pigram, MO4287 Petitioner,

v.Tarry Williams, Warden, Stateville Correctional Center, Respondent.

No. 15 C 3794

United States District Court, N.D. Illinois, Eastern Division.

Singed April 19, 2016

Frederick Pigram, Joliet, IL, pro se.

Jason Foster Krigel, Assistant Attorney General, Chicago, IL, for Respondent.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

John J. Tharp, Jr., United States District Judge

On February 11, 2009 a jury found Fredrick Pigram guilty of shooting to death Raydale Davenport outside of a neighborhood building that was hosting a community breakfast. Mot. to Dismiss Pet., ECF No. 7, 1. Pending is Pigram's petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, and his motion to supplement that petition. See Mot. by Pet'r for Leave to Supplement, ECF No 12. In his petition, Pigram contends that he should be granted a new trial because he was denied a fair trial in 2011. The respondent, Tarry Williams, moves to dismiss the petition pursuant to Rule 4 of the Rules Governing Section 2254 Proceedings as time barred. For the following reasons, Williams' motion to dismiss Pigram's petition is granted and Pigram's motion to supplement his habeas filing is denied as moot.

BACKROUND

Raydale Davenport was shot and killed on June 30, 2006. Pigram was soon arrested and charged with Davenport's murder and with personally discharging the firearm that caused Davenport's death. ECF No. 7, 1.

At Pigram's jury trial the following testimonial evidence was presented to the jury. Davenport's cousin, "Rico," testified that he was visiting Davenport the morning of the shooting. ECF No. 7, Ex. 1, 1. Rico and Davenport then proceeded to talk to three other acquaintances who were sitting nearby. The group decided to attend a community breakfast being hosted down the street. Id . As they approached the back of the building, the door swung open and Pigram stepped out. Id. Rico testified Pigram then told Davenport "I heard you were looking for me" and removed a pistol from his waistband. Id. Without further warning, Pigram then shot Davenport. Id. As Davenport fell to the ground Pigram continued to fire. Id. Pigram then retreated back into the building.

Terrance Bridges, Davenport's brother, corroborated much of the above testimony. Id. at 1-2. Bridges testified he went to visit Davenport and was told Davenport had just left with Rico to get breakfast. Id. at 1. He caught up with Davenport and Rico as they approached the building where the breakfast was being held. Id. He then saw Pigram walk out the back door and heard Pigram ask Davenport "what was that shit you were saying." Id. at 2. Pigram then shot Davenport with a chrome pistol. Id. As Davenport fell back, Pigram stepped over him and fired another ten or eleven shots into his body. Id. Pigram then ran back inside the building.

On February 11, 2009, the jury returned a guilty verdict and found that Pigram had personally discharged the firearm that caused Davenport's death. Id. The court sentenced defendant to 50 years imprisonment. Id. Pigram filed a direct appeal, and the appellate court affirmed his conviction on February 22, 2011. Id. at 9. The Illinois Supreme Court denied his petition for leave to appeal on May 25, 2011. Pigram did not file a petition for writ of certiorari; thus, for purposes of calculating the applicable limitations period, Pigram's conviction became final 90 days later, on August 23, 2011. See 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(1)(A).

On February 3, 2012, Pigram filed a postconviction petition. Id. The trial court dismissed that petition and on October 21, 2013 the state appellate court affirmed the trial court's decision. Pigram filed a petition for rehearing, which was summarily denied on December 4, 2013. Pigram then filed a Petition for Leave to Appeal ("PLA") to the Illinois Supreme Court, which was denied on March 26, 2014. Pigram again declined to file a petition for a writ of certiorari. On April 20, 2015, after seeking legal advice from a prison law clerk, Pigram mailed his pro se habeas petition from the Stateville Correctional Center.

ANALYSIS

In Count I of his petition, Pigram claims he was denied due process and his right to a fair trial when the prosecution "allegedly withheld exculpatory evidence that would have allowed defense counsel to pursue several viable alternative defenses." Pet. for Writ, ECF No. 1, 9. In Count II, Pigram maintains he was denied his right to a fair trial and equal protection under the law when the trial court failed to ask the venire if they understood that Pigram was presumed innocent and that the state must prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. at 10. In Count III, Pigram argues he was denied effective assistance of counsel because his trial attorney elicited testimony indicating he was a gang member and failed to raise a number of evidentiary objections. Id. at 18. In Count IV, Pigram maintains that his appellate counsel was constitutionally ineffective for failing to raise the above arguments on direct appeal. Id. at 21. In Count V, he argues that "the accumulation of errors in this case violated [his] right to due process."Id. at 22. The Court cannot address the merits of Pigram's contentions, however, because Pigram failed to file his petition within the one-year limitations period that applies to all habeas petitions.

I. Pigram's Petition is Time Barred

Williams argues in his motion to dismiss the petition, correctly, that all of Pigram's claims are time barred and equitable tolling is not warranted. Pigram maintains that his claim should be equitably tolled because he received erroneous advice regarding the filing deadline for his petition from a prison law clerk.

Federal Habeas petitions are governed by a one-year limitations period running from the latest of four triggering events: (A) the date on which the judgment became final on direct review or the expiration of the time for seeking such review; (B) the date on which the impediment to filing an application created by State action in violation of the Constitution or laws of the United States is removed, if the applicant was prevented from filing by such State action; (C) the date on which the constitutional right asserted was initially recognized by the Supreme Court, if the right has been newly recognized by the Court and made retroactively applicable; or (D), the date on which the factual predicate of the claim or claims presented would have been discovered through the exercise of due diligence. 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(1)(A)-(D).

Respondent Williams argues that under § 2244(d)(1)(A) the one-year limitations period has expired. Under subsection (A), the limitations period begins running when the judgment in a petitioner's case becomes final, and finality occurs on the date "when the availability of direct appeal to the state courts has been exhausted and the time for filing a petition for a writ of certiorari has elapsed or a timely petition has been finally denied." Caspari v. Bohlen , 510 U.S. 383, 390, 114 S.Ct. 948, 127 L.Ed.2d 236 (1994) ; Robinson v. United States , 416 F.3d 645, 647 (7th Cir.2005) ("The Supreme Court has held that in the context of postconviction relief, finality attaches when the Supreme Court 'affirms a conviction on the merits on direct review or denies a petition for a writ of certiorari, or when the time for filing a certiorari petition expires."'). In the case at bar, the Illinois Supreme Court denied Pigram's direct appeal PLA on May 25, 2011. Supreme Court Rule 13 provided Pigram with ninety days from the denial of the PLA to file a petition for certiorari. S. Ct. R. 13(1). Thus, because Pigram elected not to file a petition, his conviction became final for purposes of his habeas petition on August 23, 2011. See 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(1)(A).

Williams maintains, correctly, that by the time Pigram filed his habeas petition more than 365 days of untolled time had elapsed since August 23, 2011. Following the conclusion of Pigram's direct appeal, the limitations period ran for 163 days until Pigram filed his postconviction petition on February 3, 2012. Under section 2244(d)(2), the limitations period was tolled while Pigram's postconviction proceedings were pending. Gildon v. Bowen , 384 F.3d 883, 887 (7th Cir.2004) ; Wilson v. Battles , 302 F.3d 745, 747 (7th Cir.2002). The limitations period remained tolled through March 26, 2014, when the Illinois Supreme Court denied Pigram's postconviction PLA. See Tucker v. Kingston , 538 F.3d 732, 735 (7th Cir.2008). The limitations clock restarted at that point and continued to run for an additional 202 days, expiring on October 14, 2014. Accordingly, Pigram's April 2015 habeas petition is untimely under section 2244(d)(1)(A).¹

Pigram does not dispute that this calculation is correct. Pet'r's Resp., ECF No. 10, ¶ 2. He argues, however, that the limitations period should be equitably tolled because, due to his lack of legal training, he relied on advice (which turned out to be incorrect) about his filing deadline provided by an inmate who was working as a "law clerk" in the prison law library. Id. at ¶ 3. The one-year habeas limitations period can be subject to equitable tolling in appropriate cases. See, e.g., Holland v. Florida , 560 U.S. 631, 645, 130 S.Ct. 2549, 177 L.Ed.2d 130 (2010). But a petitioner who is seeking equitable tolling must demonstrate that he (1) has been pursuing his rights diligently, and (2) some extraordinary circumstance stood in his way, or (3) establish a claim of actual innocence. See, e.g. , Pace v. DiGuglielmo , 544 U.S. 408, 418, 125 S.Ct. 1807, 161 L.Ed.2d 669 (2005). Pigram does not make a claim of actual innocence; instead he argues that because the law clerk who works at the prison provided him with the incorrect filing deadline, he has established an "extraordinary circumstance" that warrants equitable tolling.

But the facts as Pigram present them do not call for equitable tolling. To demonstrate an extraordinary...