Case Explained: 26a0193p.06

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

Filed: 2026-07-09

The sixth-circuit reversed the district court’s dismissal of Kyle Millis’s federal habeas corpus petition as untimely and remanded the case for further proceedings. The court held that it was not “plainly apparent” from the petition and exhibits that Millis was not entitled to equitable tolling of the one-year statute of limitations under 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d). The court applied a de novo standard of review to the district court’s refusal to apply equitable tolling, as no material facts were in dispute. Under the standard established in *Holland v. Florida*, equitable tolling requires a petitioner to demonstrate both reasonable diligence and that an extraordinary circumstance stood in their way. The court found that Millis presented colorable arguments on both prongs based on the Michigan Supreme Court’s conflicting correspondence. Specifically, Millis received a series of contradictory letters: initial notices rejecting his application as untimely, followed by a November 14 docket entry and a November 21 letter explicitly stating his application was “accepted for filing” and notifying the government that the filing was complete. It was only five months later, after Millis inquired about the status, that he received a final letter confirming the November 21 acceptance was generated in error and that his appeal had been dismissed on November 20. The court reasoned that placing the burden on a pro se petitioner to independently verify the accuracy of conflicting official court communications would be unreasonable. The court distinguished this case from precedents where petitioners ignored counsel or relied on ambiguous secondhand advice, noting instead that Millis received direct, affirmative assurances from the clerk’s office that his filing was accepted. Consequently, the district court erred in dismissing the petition under Rule 4 of the Rules Governing § 2254 Cases without allowing the state an opportunity to respond or develop the record further. The practical consequence is that the habeas petition will proceed, and the government will be given the chance to file a response and submit evidence regarding Millis’s claim for equitable tolling.

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