Opinion
Civil Action 1:19-CV-346-HSO
12-07-2021
TIMOTHY RONK PETITIONER v. BURL CAIN, Commissioner, Mississippi Department of Corrections and LYNN FITCH, Attorney General of the State of Mississippi RESPONDENTS
ORDER EXTENDING TIME TO FILE STATE COURT SUCCESSIVE POST-CONVICTION PETITION
HALIL SULEYMAN OZERDEN UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
This matter is before the Court on the Motion for Additional Time to File State Court Successive Petition for Post-Conviction Relief [Doc. #57]. Ronk seeks to return to state court to exhaust claims of ineffectiveness of post-conviction counsel, and the attorneys who represent him in his habeas case in this Court seek appointment in state court to pursue his unexhausted claims. The State has opposed their appointment, and the Mississippi Supreme Court declined to appoint them, but directed them to seek funding from this Court. That request was denied [Doc. #54], and Ronk's attorneys have filed another request for appointment in state court, and that request remains pending. They have now moved for another extension, and the Court finds that the request has merit and should be granted.
IT IS, THEREFORE, ORDERED that the Motion for Additional Time to File State Court Successive Petition for Post-Conviction Relief [Doc. #57] is GRANTED. The deadline for filing that petition expires thirty days after the Mississippi Supreme Court disposes of the Renewed Motion for Appointment of Counsel for Representation for Successive Petition for Post-Conviction Relief that is pending in Ronk v. State, 2021-DR-00269 SCT.
It is so ordered.