United States Court of Appeals
For the Eighth Circuit
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No. 13-1243
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Keith Allen Deaton
lllllllllllllllllllllPetitioner - Appellant
v.
Ray Hobbs, Director of the Arkansas Department of Correction
lllllllllllllllllllllRespondent - Appellee
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Appeal from United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Arkansas - Pine Bluff
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Submitted: January 16, 2014
Filed: April 11, 2014
[Unpublished]
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Before GRUENDER, BENTON, and KELLY, Circuit Judges.
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PER CURIAM.
Keith Deaton appeals the district court’s dismissal of his habeas corpus petition
as untimely. The issue before us is whether the district court properly determined that
Deaton is not entitled to equitable tolling. However, because Deaton asserted a claim
of actual innocence as the primary ground for his petition, this issue is now moot after
the Supreme Court’s decision in McQuiggin v. Perkins, 569 U.S. ---, 133 S. Ct. 1924
(2013). See id. at 1928 (“Our opinion clarifies that a federal habeas court, faced with
an actual-innocence gateway claim, should count unjustifiable delay on a habeas
petitioner’s part, not as an absolute barrier to relief, but as a factor in determining
whether actual innocence has been reliably shown.”). Therefore, we remand to the
district court for a determination as to whether Deaton can meet the demanding
actual-innocence standard. See Williams v. Hobbs, 509 F. App’x 558, 558 (8th Cir.
2013) (unpublished per curiam); see also McQuiggin, 133 S. Ct. at 1935 (“[A]
petitioner ‘must show that it is more likely than not that no reasonable juror would
have convicted him in the light of the new evidence.’ . . . ‘A court may consider how
the timing of the submission and the likely credibility of [a petitioner’s] affiants bear
on the probable reliability of . . . evidence [of actual innocence].’” (third, fourth, and
fifth alterations in original) (quoting Schlup v. Delo, 513 U.S. 298, 327, 332 (1995))).
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