Lynwood Williams v. Charlie Crist

HULL, Circuit Judge:

Petitioner Lynwood Williams, a Florida state prisoner, appeals the district court’s order dismissing his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition as time-barred. This appeal addresses what effect Williams’s motion for belated appeal in state court, which was filed within the AEDPA limitations period and granted by the state court thereafter, has on his AEDPA clock. 1 After review and oral argument, we reverse the dismissal of Williams’s § 2254 petition.

I. BACKGROUND

A. State Court Proceedings

Williams’s first degree murder conviction was affirmed on October 24, 1997. See Williams v. State,…