Arkansas Man Convicted of Rape Can Pursue Late Habeas Challenge

An Arkansas man tried and convicted of rape in 2019 can pursue his late-filed habeas petition after the Eighth Circuit said his filing of a motion for belated appeal tolled the otherwise applicable one-year statute of limitations.

The timeliness of Harl Garrett’s habeas petition depended on whether the statute of limitations imposed by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 had been tolled during the three-weeks his motion for a belated appeal was pending

AEDPA’s tolling provision, 28 USC § 2244(d), excludes from its limitations period the “time during which a properly filed application for State post-conviction ...