Unreported / Non-Citable
Background
Glenn Malcom Blair pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance and was sentenced to 240 months in prison followed by four years of supervised release. He did not appeal, so his conviction became final on March 27, 2025, when his 14-day period for filing an appeal expired.
Blair later sought relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, asserting ten grounds that included ineffective assistance of counsel, undisclosed conflicts of interest, actual innocence, sentencing entrapment, and an Eighth Amendment violation. His amended motion was deemed filed on August 23, 2026, nearly five months after the one-year limitations period expired. Blair argued that the motion was timely because he allegedly did not discover attorney Rick Pelley’s involvement in his criminal case until July 2026, and he also invoked equitable tolling and the actual-innocence gateway.
The Court’s Holding
The court held that Blair’s motion was untimely under § 2255(f)(1). Section 2255(f)(4) did not provide a later starting date because Rick Pelley’s involvement appeared on the criminal docket beginning in 2023, and Blair received a copy of that docket in July 2025. Blair offered no evidence that he exercised due diligence in discovering the facts underlying his claims.
The court also rejected equitable tolling because Blair did not demonstrate reasonable diligence or an extraordinary circumstance that prevented timely filing. His lack of legal training and limited access to outside assistance while incarcerated were insufficient. His actual-innocence argument likewise failed because most of the cited information was already available through his personal knowledge or reasonable investigation, and he did not submit the scientific research on which he relied or other new, reliable evidence showing factual innocence of the offense of conviction. The court denied the amended motion and dismissed the action with prejudice as time-barred without reaching the merits of Blair’s underlying claims.
Key Takeaways
- Blair’s one-year period for seeking § 2255 relief expired on March 27, 2026, one year after his unappealed conviction became final.
- Information appearing on the criminal docket—and supplied to Blair through a docket sheet in July 2025—did not qualify as a newly discovered fact under § 2255(f)(4).
- Neither ordinary difficulties associated with incarceration nor unsupported challenges to the prosecution and sentencing evidence established equitable tolling or the demanding actual-innocence gateway.
Why It Matters
The decision illustrates that a prisoner invoking newly discovered facts must show when those facts could have been found through due diligence, not merely when the prisoner claims to have learned them. Public docket information and materials reasonably available before the limitations deadline generally will not restart the clock.
It also underscores that an actual-innocence gateway requires new, reliable evidence of factual innocence. Attacks on the sufficiency or treatment of existing evidence, without evidence showing that no reasonable factfinder would convict, do not excuse an untimely § 2255 motion.