Background
Isaiah Hasan Gilbert, an Oklahoma prisoner, was convicted in two thousand and ten of first degree murder, shooting with intent to kill, and robbery with a firearm. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed his convictions in two thousand and thirteen. In two thousand and twenty-four, Gilbert filed a federal habeas petition under twenty-eight U.S.C. Section two thousand two hundred fifty-four, asserting seven claims. He argued that six affidavits from witnesses, including two who recanted their trial testimony, demonstrated his actual innocence and excused the untimeliness of his petition. The district court dismissed the petition as untimely and denied an evidentiary hearing.
The court’s reasoning
The court determined that the prisoner could not appeal without a certificate of appealability and that reasonable jurists would not debate the district court’s procedural rulings. Regarding timeliness, the court found the petition filed in September two thousand and twenty-four was well past the one-year limitations period that expired in April two thousand and fourteen. The court rejected the argument that a void judgment could be challenged at any time, noting the prisoner offered no authority for such a proposition. On the actual innocence claim, the court found the affidavits did not satisfy the gateway because they did not prove the prisoner would be acquitted. The affidavits contradicted trial evidence, including the prisoner’s own police interview and jail calls. Furthermore, the court noted that recantations are notoriously unreliable and that the affidavits contained internal contradictions regarding the prisoner’s location and clothing.
What it means going forward
The denial of the certificate of appealability prevents the prisoner from appealing the district court’s dismissal of his habeas petition to the Tenth Circuit.