BROOKLYN, NY – A federal judge has dismissed a habeas corpus petition filed by a New York inmate who claimed his robbery conviction was unconstitutional, ruling that the petition was filed too late under federal law.
Otis Utley, currently incarcerated at Green Haven Correctional Facility, was convicted in Queens County Supreme Court of first- and second-degree robbery for a 2014 armed jewelry store heist that netted over $26,000 in stolen merchandise. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison following a jury trial.
Utley’s case was reviewed at multiple levels in the state court system. The Appellate Division, Second Department, affirmed the conviction in March 2019, and the New York Court of Appeals denied leave to appeal in June 2019. Over the following years, Utley filed a series of pro se motions, including a writ of error coram nobis and a motion to vacate the judgment under state law, all of which were denied.
On July 19, 2023, Utley filed a federal habeas corpus petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, raising claims that had already been rejected in state court. These included allegations of ineffective assistance of counsel, improper admission of evidence, and that the verdict was against the weight of the evidence.
However, U.S. District Judge Ann M. Donnelly granted the state’s motion to dismiss the petition, agreeing with prosecutors that the filing violated the one-year statute of limitations established by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA).
The timeline showed that Utley’s conviction became final on September 18, 2019, 90 days after the state’s highest court denied review and no petition for certiorari was filed. Although he filed various post-conviction motions in state court, the delays between filings did not toll the federal deadline enough to make his 2023 petition timely.
The court also noted that Utley raised no new legal grounds or exceptional circumstances that would justify equitable tolling, and that he had already pursued many of the same arguments unsuccessfully in earlier proceedings.
With the petition dismissed as untimely, no hearing will be held, and Utley is unlikely to receive further federal review unless he can demonstrate new evidence or extraordinary legal grounds.
