To equitably toll the one-year statute of AEDPA, petitioner must establish (1) he pursued his rights diligently and (2) an extraordinary circumstance stood in his way. (Raspberry v. Garcia (9th Cir. 2006) 448 F.3d 1150.)
AEDPA imposing a one-year statute of limitations for habeas petitions filed by state prisoners, took effect on 4/24/96. For those whose conviction became final prior to the enactment of AEDPA, the statute of limitations starts running the day after AEDPA’s effective date and becomes final 4/24/97. Petitioner Bryant attempted to pursue a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel but was time barred under AEDPA and was unable to prevail on his claim that the time should be tolled because he didnt have notice of AEDPA’s statute of limitations due to his inability to establish a causal connection between the late filing and the unavailability of case law in the prison library. There was no equitable relief available as he did not establish extraordinary circumstances or due diligence.