United States Ninth Circuit

In a case in which petitioner's counsel never informed him that the court denied his petition and petitioner only discovered the denial six years later when he sent a letter to the court inquiring about its status, the district court's denial of petitioner's motion pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b) for relief from the 2004 denial of his habeas corpus petition is reversed where: 1) the district court erred by finding that petitioner was not abandoned by his attorney; 2) the abandonment directly prevented petitioner from timely appealing the denial of his habeas petition; and 3) the motion for relief was timely because once petitioner learned his petition had been denied, he made reasonable efforts to determine whether relief was available and how to seek such relief.

Appellate Information

• Decided 07/14/2015
• Published 07/14/2015

Judges

• CHRISTEN

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel