The Third Circuit reviewed the one-year tolling provision for petitions seeking collateral relief from state-court convictions under 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(2). The petitioner was convicted of a crime in New Jersey state court and lost his direct appeal. 193 days elapsed before he filed a state-level petition for post-conviction relief (“PCR”). He was denied post-conviction relief by the trial court and did not appeal the ruling. About eight years later, he filed a motion to appeal “as within time”. That petition was granted, but the petitioner lost the subsequent appeal. Less than 45 days later, he filed a § 2254 petition. The District Court held that neither equitable tolling nor statutory tolling saved the untimely petition from dismissal. The Third Circuit agreed and affirmed. It held that the PCR petition was not “pending” after it was dismissed, and he failed to take an appeal, notwithstanding his claim that he was ill-informed by his then-counsel and thought an appeal had been taken.
