Thomas v. Attorney General, No. 13-14635 (11th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CasePetitioner, sentenced to death for murdering his wife, appealed the district court's denial of his federal habeas petition. The district court held that the petition was untimely, but that petitioner was entitled to equitable tolling in light of his attorney’s egregious misconduct. However, the district court denied relief on the merits. The Attorney General filed a motion to limit briefing to the question of equitable tolling. Petitioner filed a motion to stay the current briefing schedule until the resolution of the AG's motion. The court concluded, sua sponte, that the proper course is to remand this case to the district court to make additional and detailed findings of fact concerning petitioner's claim to equitable tolling, including exactly what may have happened and, most importantly, why counsel did not timely file this section 2254 petition. The court directed the district court to apply these findings of fact to the changing landscape in the law of equitable tolling. Accordingly, the court denied as moot the state's motion to limit briefing before the court to equitable tolling and the petitioner's motion to stay the current briefing schedule.
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