Opinion
No. 66488
02-04-2015
JACOB RAIME PRATT, Appellant, v. RENEE BAKER, WARDEN; AND THE STATE OF NEVADA, Respondents.
An unpublished order shall not be regarded as precedent and shall not be cited as legal authority. SCR 123.
ORDER OF AFFIRMANCE
This is an appeal from an order of the district court dismissing a post-conviction petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Second Judicial District Court, Washoe County; Lidia Stiglich, Judge.
This appeal has been submitted for decision without oral argument, NRAP 34(f)(3), and we conclude that the record is sufficient for our review and briefing is unwarranted. See Luckett v. Warden, 91 Nev. 681, 682, 541 P.2d 910, 911 (1975).
Appellant filed his petition on August 14, 2014, 7 years after issuance of the remittitur on direct appeal on July 5, 2007. Pratt v. State, Docket No. 46472 (Order of Affirmance, June 8, 2007). Thus, appellant's petition was untimely filed. See NRS 34.726(1). Appellant's petition was procedurally barred absent a demonstration of good cause—cause for the delay and undue prejudice. See NRS 34.726(1).
In an attempt to demonstrate good cause, appellant argued that he was ignorant of the rules regarding post-conviction and he did not have adequate access to the prison's law library. Appellant failed to demonstrate that an impediment external to the defense excused his procedural defects. See Hathaway v. State, 119 Nev. 248, 252, 71 P.3d 503, 506 (2003). His ignorance of the law did not constitute good cause to excuse the delay, see Phelps v. Dir., Nev. Dep't of Prisons, 104 Nev. 656, 660, 764 P.2d 1303, 1306 (1988), and he failed to provide specific facts relating to his alleged deprivation of access to a law library, see Hargrove v. State, 100 Nev. 498, 502, 686 P.2d 222, 225 (1984).
Next, appellant argued that he could overcome the procedural bars because he was actually innocent of attempted murder with the use of a deadly weapon and first-degree kidnapping with the use of a deadly weapon. Appellant did not demonstrate actual innocence because he failed to show that "'it is more likely than not that no reasonable juror would have convicted him in light of . . . new evidence.'" Calderon v, Thompson, 523 U.S. 538, 559 (1998) (quoting Schlup v. Delo, 513 U.S. 298, 327 (1995)); see also Pellegrini v. State, 117 Nev. 860, 887, 34 P.3d 519, 537 (2001); Mazzan v. Warden, 112 Nev. 838, 842, 921 P.2d 920, 922 (1996). We therefore conclude that the district court did not err in denying appellant's petition, and we
ORDER the judgment of the district court AFFIRMED.
/s/_________, C.J.
Gibbons
/s/_________, J.
Tao
/s/_________, J.
Silver
cc: Hon. Lidia Stiglich, District Judge
Jacob Raime Pratt
Attorney General/Carson City
Washoe County District Attorney
Washoe District Court Clerk