Brown: 3.853 motion for DNA does not toll AEDPA

In Brown v. Sec. Dep’t of Corrections, No. 06-15269 (June 19, 2008), the Court held that a Florida inmate’s motion for DNA testing under Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.853 did not constitute the kind of motion for post-conviction relief that tolled AEDPA’s one-year statute of limitations. The Court recognized that the motion’s lack of specificity would not affect whether it was "properly filed," but held that the motion was too distinct from a 3.850 motion for relief to toll the federal limitations period. The Court therefore held that Brown’s federal habeas petition was untimely.