United States Supreme Court

The Sixth Circuit's holding that that defendant's actual-innocence claim allowed him to present his ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim as if it had been filed on time is vacated and remanded, where: 1) Actual innocence, if proved, serves as a gateway through which a defendant may pass whether the impediment is a procedural bar or expiration of the AEDPA statute of limitations, as in this case; 2) a federal habeas court, faced with an actual-innocence gateway claim, should count unjustifiable delay on a habeas petitioner's part, not as an absolute barrier to relief, but as a factor in determining whether actual innocence has been reliably shown; but 3) here, the district court's finding that defendant's habeas petition was insufficient to meet the actual innocence standard should not have been disturbed by the Sixth Circuit, absent cause, which is not seen here.

Appellate Information

• Decided 05/28/2013
• Published 05/28/2013

Judges

• GINSBURG

Court

• United States Supreme Court

Counsel