In Walton v. Sec. Dep’t of Corrections, No. 11-10558 (Nov. 9, 2011), the Court affirmed on untimeliness grounds the denial of habeas relief to a Florida inmate sentenced to death in 1989.
After his first state petition for habeas relief was denied by the Florida Supreme Court, Walton filed a second state petition. However, this second petition was not “properly filed,” as required to toll the running of AEDPA’s one-year statute of limitations for federal habeas petitions. The second petition was not properly filed because it was not accompanied with a brief in appeal of the denial of his first motion for postconviction relief, as required by Florida law. Although the Florida Supreme Court did not find that the second petition was untimely, the Court found that it was untimely, under Florida law, and therefore failed to satisfy the “properly filed” requirement of AEDPA.
