In Johnson v. U.S., No. 03-9865 (Apr. 4, 2005), the Supreme Court held that, in a case of a prisoner’s collateral attack on a federal sentence on the ground that a state conviction used to enhance that sentence has since been vacated, the one-year statute of limitations of 28 U.S.C. § 2255 ¶ 6 begins to run when a prisoner receives notice of the order vacating the conviction, provided that the prisoner sought the vacatur with due diligence in state court after entry of the federal judgment with the enhanced sentence.
In so ruling, the Supreme Court rejected the Eleventh Circuit’s test, which had dismissed the prisoner’s claim on the ground that that the state court order did not start the limitations period. However, the Supreme Court ultimutely upheld the decision of the Eleventh Circuit, finding that Johnson had not acted with due diligence in seeking vacatur of his prior conviction, and therefore finding that his § 2255 petition was time-barred.
