Lawrence v. Florida, 549 U.S. 327 (2007)

In Lawrence v. Florida, 549 U.S. 327 (2007), the underlying events began with Gary Lawrence and his wife committing the murder of Michael Finken using a pipe and a baseball bat. Following their actions, a Florida jury convicted Lawrence of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, auto theft, and petty theft, leading to a death sentence. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed his conviction and sentence, and the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari on January 20, 1998. After the state court's final judgment, Lawrence filed an application for state postconviction relief on January 19, 1999, which was 364 days after his conviction became final. The state trial court denied his application, and the Florida Supreme Court affirmed this decision, issuing its mandate on November 18, 2002. Lawrence then sought review in the U.S. Supreme Court, which denied certiorari on March 24, 2003. Subsequently, Lawrence filed a federal habeas corpus application, but the Federal District Court dismissed it as untimely, as he had exceeded the one-year statute of limitations set by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA). The procedural history indicates that the Eleventh Circuit upheld the District Court's dismissal, concluding that Lawrence had only one day remaining to file his federal habeas application after the Florida Supreme Court issued its mandate. The court's decision was influenced by existing precedent, which stated that the statute of limitations under §2244 was not tolled during the pendency of a petition for certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court granted certiorari to address this issue and ultimately affirmed the Eleventh Circuit's ruling.

Whether a state application for post-conviction relief is still considered "pending" under 28 U.S.C. §2244(d)(2) when a petition for certiorari has been filed in the Supreme Court after the state courts have entered a final judgment on the matter.

The judgment is affirmed.