For purposes of calculating filing dates under AEDPA a prisoner is entitled to the benefit of the mailbox rule. The filing deadline for petitioner’s federal habeas petition was March 24, 2006. Petitioner’s pro se petition was dated March 16, 2006, and post-marked March 17, 2006, but the district court did not stamp it as filed until March 28, 2006. As a result, the district court dismissed the petition as untimely. The Ninth Circuit reversed. The petition was timely under the mailbox rule, which deems a pro se habeas petition filed when the prisoner gives it to prison authorities for mailing to the court. Regardless of whether the petition is dated from the proof of service or from the post-mark, the petition was filed before the filing deadline.
Case Summaries