Roberts v. Marshall, No. 08-55901

Denial of Habeas Petition as Untimely Affirmed

In Roberts v. Marshall, No. 08-55901, a second-degree murder prosecution, the court affirmed the denial of petitioner's habeas petition where the record was amply developed, and it indicated that petitioner's mental incompetence was not so severe as to cause the untimely filing of his habeas petition, and thus the district court was not obligated to hold evidentiary hearings to further develop the factual record, notwithstanding his allegations of mental incompetence.

As the court wrote:  "We must decide whether a habeas petitioner is entitled to an evidentiary hearing to determine whether his asserted mental incompetence warrants equitable tolling of the one-year statute of limitations provided by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996."

Related Resources

• Read the Ninth Circuit's Decision in Roberts v. Marshall, No. 08-55901