Background
Steven Lee Adair pleaded guilty in Oklahoma state court in November 2015 to multiple serious crimes including first-degree murder and kidnapping. He was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole and did not appeal the conviction. In April 2021, Adair sought postconviction relief arguing the state lacked jurisdiction because the crimes occurred in Indian country following the Supreme Court’s decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma. The state court denied this application. Adair then filed a federal habeas petition under 28 U.S.C. Section 2254 in February 2023, raising claims that the state lacked jurisdiction and that his trial counsel was ineffective. The district court dismissed the petition as untimely under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, noting the one-year limitations period had expired in November 2016.
The court’s reasoning
To proceed with the appeal, Adair needed a certificate of appealability, which requires a substantial showing that jurists of reason could debate the correctness of the district court’s procedural ruling. The court explained that a petitioner’s challenge to the convicting court’s jurisdiction is considered a due process challenge and is subject to the one-year statute of limitations. The court found that Adair’s conviction became final in November 2015, making the limitations period expire in November 2016. Since Adair filed his petition in February 2023, more than six years later, the court concluded the application of the time bar was not debatable. The court also noted that precedent forecloses equitable tolling based on a McGirt jurisdictional defect.
What it means going forward
The dismissal prevents federal courts from reviewing the merits of Adair’s constitutional claims regarding jurisdiction and ineffective assistance of counsel. The ruling reinforces that jurisdictional arguments based on McGirt do not extend the filing deadline for habeas petitions in the Tenth Circuit.