Hugh Garcia v. James Yates
Hugh GARCIA, Petitioner-Appellant, v. James YATES, Warden, Respondent-Appellee
- Proceeding
- appeal
- Trial court
- United States District Court for the Southern District of California
- Trial judge
- Dana M. Sabraw (district judge)
- Outcome
- reversed in part — AFFIRMED in part, VACATED and REMANDED in part.
- Area
- civil
- Panel
- Joseph J. Farris (author), Jay S. Bybee, Edward Leavy
Analysis
No analysis yet. When one exists it is a model's reading of this opinion — the rulings it reviewed, whether it agrees with the court, and the authorities it checked — shown beside the court's own disposition, never in place of it. How analyses are made.
Opinion
FILED NOT FOR PUBLICATION MAR 17 2011
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
HUGH GARCIA, No. 08-56996 Petitioner - Appellant, D.C. No. 3:07-cv-00048-DMS v. MEMORANDUM * JAMES YATES, Warden, Respondent - Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of California Dana M. Sabraw, District Judge, Presiding Submitted March 8, 2011 ** Before: FARRIS, LEAVY, and BYBEE, Circuit Judges.
California state prisoner Hugh Garcia appeals from the district court’s order dismissing his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition as untimely. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 2253, and we affirm in part, vacate in part, and remand.
* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3. ** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2). Garcia contends that he is entitled to equitable tolling due to the absence of Spanish language legal materials in the prison law library. This claim fails because, although Garcia has submitted some evidence that he attempted to procure both legal assistance and legal materials in Spanish, he has not shown that, throughout the period for which tolling is sought, he was diligently pursuing “either legal materials in his own language or translation assistance from an inmate, library personnel, or other source.” Mendoza v. Carey, 449 F.3d 1065, 1070 (9th Cir. 2006).
Garcia also claims that he is entitled to equitable tolling due to his mental incompetence. Garcia has presented considerable evidence that he suffers from a delusional disorder. Moreover, the crux of the claims in his petition is that his constitutional rights were violated when he was permitted to represent himself at trial notwithstanding this disorder. For these reasons, remand is warranted for an evidentiary hearing to determine whether Garcia’s delusional disorder is an extraordinary circumstance that prevented a timely federal filing. See Holland v. Florida, — U.S. —, 130 S. Ct. 2549, 2560-62 (2010); Laws v. Lamarque, 351 F.3d 919 (9th Cir. 2003) (remand warranted for good-faith allegation that would, if true, support equitable tolling).
We construe Garcia’s remaining arguments as a motion to expand the 2 08-56996 certificate of appealability. So construed, the motion is denied. See 9th Cir. R.
22-1(e); see also Hiivala v. Wood, 195 F.3d 1098, 1104-05 (9th Cir. 1999) (per curiam).
AFFIRMED in part, VACATED and REMANDED in part.
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