McQuiggin v. Perkins

Floyd Perkins (defendant) was convicted of murdering Rodney Henderson after the two left a party together with a third man, Damarr Jones, who testified for the prosecution; Perkins was sentenced to life without parole, and his conviction became final in 1997. In 2002 Perkins obtained three affidavits supporting his innocence, but he did not file a federal habeas petition raising ineffective assistance and actual innocence until 2008, well past AEDPA's one-year limitations period. The Sixth Circuit reversed the district court's dismissal, holding actual-innocence claims are categorically exempt from the deadline, and the state sought Supreme Court review.