Habeas Petition Not Untimely Because State Courts Had Not Ruled on State Appeal -- After 7 Years!

Brown v. Roberts, 2006 WL 936629 (4/12/06) - The 10th overturns a dismissal of a habeas petition with prejudice on statute of limitations grounds because the petitioner's conviction was not yet final. His counsel had filed a notice of appeal in state court and then not done anything else on the appeal for 7 years. Counsel forgot about the case because the case file ended up in the closed files prompting counsel to state: "it would appear we dropped the ball big time!" [exclamation point in the original]. The 10th ruled the petition should be dismissed without prejudice because the petitioner's claims had not been exhausted and the state courts should deal with the appeal.