Many habeas corpus petitions are filed late. If yours is late by one day, the federal court will dismiss it without mercy.
Section 2244 of U.S. Code Title 28 says you have one "year" to file for federal habeas corpus after one of four events happens. Three of those events don't apply to most prisoners. The one that usually applies, and almost always happens first, is the date on which the direct appeal from the criminal judgment became final or the time to appeal expires. That usually starts the "year."
But for most prisoners filing for habeas corpus relief is not the next step after the direct appeal. Most prisoners file for state post-conviction relief first.
So let's say you do file for post-conviction relief. Let's also assume that the circuit court denies your petition and you also lose the post-conviction appeal. Then you file for habeas corpus relief. That is the order in which most prisoners proceed. The big question is: Now when is your habeas corpus petition due? Is it still a year?
The answer is: You don't have a year left unless you filed for post-conviction relief before your direct appeal was denied. The year started running when your direct appeal ended; it stopped (but did not go back to zero) when your post-conviction petition was filed; and it started again when your post-conviction appeal ended. So if it took you six months after your direct appeal ended to get your post-conviction petition on file, you lost half your year.
Now you know a little about one of the issues that can cost you habeas corpus relief. I haven't even mentioned procedural bar, state supreme-court review or appellate mandates. To find out for sure when your habeas corpus petition is due, you need to talk to an attorney who understands how section 2244 works and knows the procedural history of your case.
