Opinion
Civil Action No. 12-cv-00141-BNB
04-12-2012
KEVIN PONIS, Applicant, v. RAE TIMME, Warden of Fremont Correctional Facility ("Fremont"), TOM CLEMENTS, Executive Director, Colorado Department of Corrections (CDOC), and JOHN SUTHERS, the Attorney General of the State of Colorado, Respondents.
ORDER TO FILE PRE-ANSWER RESPONSE
As part of the preliminary consideration of the Amended Application for a Writ of Habeas Corpus Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 filed on March 30, 2012, in this action and pursuant to Denson v. Abbott, 554 F. Supp. 2d 1206 (D. Colo. 2008), the Court has determined that a limited Pre-Answer Response is appropriate. Respondents are directed pursuant to Rule 4 of the Rules Governing Section 2254 Cases in the United States District Courts to file a Pre-Answer Response limited to addressing the affirmative defenses of timeliness under 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d) and/or exhaustion of state court remedies under 28 U.S.C. § 2254(b)(1)(A). If Respondents do not intend to raise either of these affirmative defenses, they must notify the Court of that decision in the Pre-Answer Response. Respondents may not file a dispositive motion as their Pre-Answer Response, or an Answer, or otherwise address the merits of the claims in response to this Order.
In support of the Pre-Answer Response, Respondents should attach as exhibits all relevant portions of the state court record, including but not limited to copies of all documents demonstrating whether this action is filed in a timely manner and/or whether Applicant has exhausted state court remedies.
Applicant may reply to the Pre-Answer Response and provide any information that might be relevant to the one-year limitation period under 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d) and/or the exhaustion of state court remedies. Applicant also should include information relevant to equitable tolling, specifically as to whether he has pursued his claims diligently and whether some extraordinary circumstance prevented him from filing a timely 28 U.S.C. § 2254 action in this Court. Accordingly, it is
ORDERED that within twenty-one (21) days from the date of this Order Respondent The Attorney General of the State of Colorado shall file a Pre-Answer Response that complies with this Order. It is
FURTHER ORDERED that within twenty-one (21) days of the filing of the Pre-Answer Response Applicant may file a Reply, if he desires. It is
FURTHER ORDERED that if Respondents do not intend to raise either of the affirmative defenses of timeliness or exhaustion of state court remedies, the Respondent Attorney General of the State of Colorado must notify the Court of that decision in the Pre-Answer Response.
Dated at Denver, Colorado this 12 day of April , 2012.
BY THE COURT:
Boyd N. Boland
United States Magistrate Judge