Michael Rogers v. Secretary, Department of Corrections , 855 F.3d 1274 ( 2017 )


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  •                Case: 15-12880       Date Filed: 05/02/2017      Page: 1 of 10
    [PUBLISH]
    IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
    ________________________
    No. 15-12880
    ________________________
    D.C. Docket No. 4:14-cv-00062-MW-GRJ
    MICHAEL ROGERS,
    Petitioner-Appellant,
    versus
    SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS,
    Respondent-Appellee.
    ________________________
    Appeal from the United States District Court
    for the Northern District of Florida
    ________________________
    (May 2, 2017)
    Before WILSON and JULIE CARNES, Circuit Judges, and HALL, * District
    Judge.
    WILSON, Circuit Judge:
    *
    Honorable James Randal Hall, United States District Judge for the Southern District of
    Georgia, sitting by designation.
    Case: 15-12880     Date Filed: 05/02/2017   Page: 2 of 10
    Michael Rogers argues, and the Secretary of the Florida Department of
    Corrections disputes, that Rogers’s motion under Rule 3.800(c), Florida Rules of
    Criminal Procedure, tolled the time in which he could petition for federal habeas
    relief. Under 
    28 U.S.C. § 2244
    (d)(2), this time is tolled during the pendency of a
    state prisoner’s application for “collateral review.” The Supreme Court defines
    “collateral review” as any “judicial reexamination of a judgment or claim in a
    proceeding outside of the direct review process.” Wall v. Kholi, 
    562 U.S. 545
    , 553,
    
    131 S. Ct. 1278
    , 1285 (2011). Because a Rule 3.800(c) motion is an application
    for such judicial reexamination, we hold that Rogers’s motion tolled the time in
    which he could petition for federal habeas relief. We reverse the district court’s
    dismissal of Rogers’s petition and remand for further proceedings.
    I.
    Rogers was convicted of sexual battery on a minor under the age of 12 and
    sentenced, among other things, to life imprisonment. The conviction and sentence
    became final on May 12, 2010. On June 23, 2010, Rogers moved to reduce his
    sentence under Rule 3.800(c), which grants a Florida trial court the discretion to
    reduce a sentence after an appellate court’s affirmation of the legality of the
    sentence. The denial of the motion became final on August 9, 2011. On
    October 28, 2011, Rogers moved under Rule 3.850, challenging the trial court’s
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    jurisdiction over his criminal case. The denial of the motion became final on
    August 5, 2013.
    On January 31, 2014, Rogers petitioned for federal habeas relief under
    
    28 U.S.C. § 2254
    . The Secretary of the Florida Department of Corrections moved
    to dismiss the petition for, among other reasons, untimeliness. The Secretary
    argued that the one-year limitations period in which Rogers could petition for
    federal habeas relief expired on July 27, 2011, and that Rogers’s Rule 3.800(c)
    motion failed to toll this limitations period. Neither party disputed the tolling
    effect of a Rule 3.850 motion. Thus, the parties agreed that, if the Rule 3.800(c)
    motion tolled the limitations period, the federal habeas petition was timely and
    that, if the motion did not, the petition was untimely.
    Recommending that the district court grant the Secretary’s motion to
    dismiss, a magistrate judge stated, among other reasons, that the Rule 3.800(c)
    motion failed to toll the limitations period. The district court adopted the
    recommendation, granted the motion, and dismissed the federal habeas petition.
    Rogers appealed, and this court granted a certificate of appealability on one issue:
    “Whether Rogers’s habeas petition was untimely under [§ 2244(d)(2)].”
    II.
    Under § 2244(d)(2), a state prisoner can toll the one-year limitations period
    for a federal habeas petition by applying for “collateral review” in state court:
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    The time during which a properly filed application for
    State post-conviction or other collateral review with
    respect to the pertinent judgment or claim is pending
    shall not be counted toward any period of limitation
    under this subsection.
    The parties dispute whether a Florida prisoner’s Rule 3.800(c) motion to reduce a
    sentence is an application for collateral review. Rule 3.800 states:
    (a) Correction. . . . A court may at any time correct an
    illegal sentence imposed by it . . . .
    ....
    (c) Reduction and Modification. A court may reduce or
    modify . . . a legal sentence imposed by it, sua sponte, or
    upon motion filed, within 60 days after the
    imposition . . . . If review is upon motion, the trial court
    shall have 90 days from the date the motion is filed or
    such time as agreed by the parties or as extended by the
    trial court to enter an order ruling on the motion. This
    subdivision shall not be applicable to those cases . . . in
    which the trial judge has imposed the minimum
    mandatory sentence or has no sentencing discretion.
    Controlling our analysis here, Kholi likewise involved “the question whether
    a motion to reduce [a] sentence tolls the period of limitation under § 2244(d)(2).”
    
    562 U.S. at 550
    , 
    131 S. Ct. at 1283
    . Kholi reviewed a Rhode Island prisoner’s
    motion to reduce a sentence, which is a request under Rule 35(a), Rhode Island
    Superior Court Rules of Criminal Procedure:
    Correction or reduction of sentence. The court may
    correct an illegal sentence at any time. The court may
    correct a sentence imposed in an illegal manner and it
    may reduce any sentence when a motion is filed within
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    one hundred and twenty (120) days after the sentence is
    imposed . . . . The court shall act on the motion within a
    reasonable time, provided that any delay by the court in
    ruling on the motion shall not prejudice the movant. The
    court may reduce a sentence, the execution of which has
    been suspended, upon revocation of probation.
    (emphasis added).
    After exploring the dictionary definitions of “collateral” and “review,” Kholi
    determined that “review” is a “judicial reexamination” and that “collateral review”
    is any “judicial reexamination of a judgment or claim in a proceeding outside of
    the direct review process.” 
    Id. at 553
    , 
    131 S. Ct. at 1285
     (internal quotation marks
    omitted). Also, Kholi noted that § 2244(d)(2) allows tolling for the purpose of
    incentivizing “litigants to exhaust all available state remedies before proceeding in
    the lower federal courts.” Id. at 558, 
    131 S. Ct. at 1288
     (internal quotation marks
    omitted). Waiting until a prisoner exhausts all available state remedies “furthers
    principles of comity, finality, and federalism.” 
    Id.
     (internal quotations marks
    omitted).
    Based on the definition of collateral review and the purpose of tolling, Kholi
    concluded that a Rule 35(a) motion to reduce a sentence tolls the limitations period
    for a federal habeas petition.
    III.
    We review de novo a dismissal of a federal habeas petition as time barred.
    Cole v. Warden, Ga. State Prison, 
    768 F.3d 1150
    , 1155 (11th Cir. 2014). After
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    de novo review and in accord with Kholi, we hold that a Rule 3.800(c) motion is an
    application for collateral review, which tolls the limitations period for a federal
    habeas petition. A Rule 3.800(c) motion fits squarely within Kholi’s definition of
    an application for collateral review. Under Rule 3.800(c), a prisoner can move for
    a reduction or modification of a legal sentence. Such a motion is “outside of the
    direct review process” and is an application to the court for a reexamination of a
    sentence. See Kholi, 
    562 U.S. at 553
    , 
    131 S. Ct. at 1285
    .
    Also, Kholi’s emphasis on the “principles of comity, finality, and
    federalism” compels our conclusion that a Rule 3.800(c) tolls the limitations
    period. See 
    id. at 558
    , 
    131 S. Ct. at 1288
     (internal quotation marks omitted).
    Based on these principles, we must respect Florida’s choice to offer to its prisoners
    the remedy in Rule 3.800(c) by waiting to intervene until after a Florida court
    resolves an application for such remedy. A Florida court’s resolution of a
    Rule 3.800(c) motion might even “obviat[e] the need for” a prisoner to petition for
    federal habeas relief. 
    Id.
    Arguing that a Rule 3.800(c) motion fails to toll because the motion is “a
    request for leniency”—not an “attack on the legality of” a sentence—the Secretary
    relies on Alexander v. Secretary, Department of Corrections, 
    523 F.3d 1291
    (11th Cir. 2008). However, a prior panel’s holding is not binding if it has been
    “overruled or undermined to the point of abrogation by the Supreme Court.”
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    United States v. Archer, 
    531 F.3d 1347
    , 1352 (11th Cir. 2008). Published before
    the Supreme Court’s decision in Kholi, Alexander held that an application for
    collateral review must challenge the legality of a sentence. Alexander was one of
    many cases exemplifying a split between circuits holding that a “motion to reduce
    [a] sentence does not toll” and circuits holding that a “motion to reduce [a]
    sentence tolls.” See Kholi, 
    562 U.S. at
    550 n.2, 
    131 S. Ct. at
    1283 n.2. And Kholi
    resolved the circuit split by holding that any “judicial reexamination of a judgment
    or claim in a proceeding outside of the direct review process” tolls the limitations
    period under § 2244(d)(2). See id. at 553, 
    131 S. Ct. at 1285
    . In other words,
    Kholi abrogated Alexander and similar cases by holding that an application for
    collateral review need not challenge the legality of a sentence. See 
    id.
     The
    Secretary’s argument and reliance on the abrogated Alexander is misguided.
    Also, arguing against the tolling effect of a Rule 3.800(c) motion, the
    Secretary distinguishes Rule 3.800(c) from Rhode Island’s Rule 35(a). 1 This
    argument is also misguided; none of the highlighted differences prevents Kholi
    from applying to a Rule 3.800(c) motion. The Secretary highlights that a Florida
    prisoner generally cannot appeal the denial of a Rule 3.800(c) motion; that no legal
    1
    In support of this argument, the Secretary cites an unpublished per curiam opinion,
    Baker v. McNeil, 439 F. App’x 786, 787 (11th Cir. 2011). In this circuit, an unpublished opinion
    “may be cited as persuasive authority” but is “not considered binding precedent.” 11th Cir.
    R. 36-2; see also Bonilla v. Baker Concrete Const., Inc., 
    487 F.3d 1340
    , 1345 n.7 (11th Cir.
    2007) (“Unpublished opinions are not controlling authority and are persuasive only insofar as
    their legal analysis warrants.”).
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    standard exists governing the outcome a Rule 3.800(c) motion; and that a
    Rule 3.800(c) motion does not toll the limitations period for direct appeal.
    However, Kholi explained that collateral review constitutes any “judicial
    reexamination of a judgment or claim in a proceeding outside of the direct review
    process.” 
    562 U.S. at 553
    , 
    131 S. Ct. at 1285
    . No requirement exists that an
    application for collateral review include the ability to appeal a trial court’s
    reexamination of a sentence; that a legal standard govern the reexamination; and
    that the tolling practices of the state influence whether a motion tolls the
    limitations period for a federal habeas petition.
    The Secretary identifies another difference in the two states’ rules. In Rhode
    Island, the same subsection—Rule 35(a)—governs a prisoner’s motion to correct
    an illegal sentence and his motion for a reduction of a sentence. In Florida,
    different subsections—Rule 3.800(a) and (c)—govern these motions. The
    Secretary argues that, because of this difference, one of Kholi’s reasons for holding
    that a Rule 35(a) motion tolls the limitations period is inapplicable to a
    Rule 3.800(c) motion. Kholi explained that, if a Rule 35(a) motion to correct an
    illegal sentence tolls the limitations period and a Rule 35(a) motion for reduction
    of a legal sentence does not, it would “greatly complicate the work of federal
    habeas courts” to have to determine which type of motion a prisoner had filed. 
    Id.
    The Secretary argues that in Florida, as long as a prisoner clarifies that his motion
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    was under Rule 3.800(c), which governs only the reduction of a legal sentence, a
    federal court evaluating the timeliness of the prisoner’s federal habeas petition
    would not need to determine what type of state motion the prisoner had filed.
    However, this difference between the rules is immaterial. Kholi’s concern in
    requiring federal courts to determine the nature of a state motion served only to
    supplement Kholi’s two primary reasons for holding that a motion to reduce a
    sentence tolls—the definition of collateral review and the purpose of tolling. And,
    as explained above, the primary reasons compel the conclusion that a
    Rule 3.800(c) motion tolls.
    Finally, the Secretary argues that allowing a Rule 3.800(c) motion to toll the
    limitations period not only allows “criminal judgments [to be] long subject to
    federal habeas actions,” which “would thwart [§ 2244]’s foundation in comity,”
    but also “allow[s] inmates to toll the federal limitation period at will.” This
    argument is misguided because Rule 3.800(c) limits the number of days in which a
    prisoner can move for reduction of a sentence—60 days after final judgment.
    IV.
    A motion under Rule 3.800(c), Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, tolls
    the limitations period for a federal habeas petition. We reverse the district court’s
    dismissal of Rogers’s petition for federal habeas relief and remand for further
    proceedings.
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    REVERSED AND REMANDED.
    10
    

Document Info

Docket Number: 15-12880

Citation Numbers: 855 F.3d 1274, 2017 WL 1573823, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 7734

Judges: Wilson, Carnes, Hall

Filed Date: 5/2/2017

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 11/5/2024