Lugo: Untimely federal habeas petition

In Lugo v. Sec. Fla. Dep’t of Corrections, No. 11-13439 (April 24, 2014), the Court held that the habeas petition of a Florida death row inmate was time-barred, and not subject to equitable tolling. The Court recognized that during a certain time period, the actions of Lugo’s counsel were disturbing, this conduct mostly occurred during a time period when the AEDPA statute of limitations was already tolled. [Concurring, Judge Martin cited statistics showing that 8% of Florida death row inmates miss the AEDPA deadline for filing habeas petitions, and discussed possible solutions to this problem, notably the timely appointment of federal habeas counsel].