Rhines v. Weber
A jury found Rhines guilty of premeditated first-degree murder and third-degree burglary and sentenced him to death by lethal injection. Rhines appealed. The South Dakota Supreme Court found that one of the four aggravating factors used by the jury to impose the death penalty was overly broad and unconstitutional, but affirmed Rhines’ conviction and death sentence on the other three aggravating factors. Rhines then filed a federal habeas petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 and a “Motion to Toll Time,” to stop the one year limitation period set by the Anti-terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA). The federal district court denied the motion.
Over two years later, the federal district court determined Rhines had filed a mixed petition of state and federal claims. Rhines moved for a stay of the federal habeas corpus proceeding so he could return to state court and exhaust his state claims. If a stay of his federal claim were not granted, the AEDPA would bar Rhines from ever refiling a § 2254 petition in federal court since the one-year statute of limitations had already tolled. The federal district court granted the stay. The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed the stay, refusing to allow the federal district court to stay Rhines’ petition.
Question Presented:
Can a federal court stay (rather than being compelled to dismiss) a 28 U.S.C. § 2254 habeas corpus petition which includes exhausted and unexhausted
claims, when the stay is necessary to permit a petitioner to exhaust claims in state court without having the one year statute of limitations in the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act
(AEDPA) bar the right to a federal petition?
