NOT RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION File Name: 22a0039n.06 No. 21-3112 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT FILED Jan 24, 2022 ) DEBORAH S. HUNT, Clerk ANA ANGELICA PEDRO JUAN, ) Petitioner-Appellant, ) ) ON APPEAL FROM THE UNITED v. ) STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR ) THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ) OHIO Respondent-Appellee. ) OPINION ) Before: SUHRHEINRICH, STRANCH, and MURPHY, Circuit Judges. JANE B. STRANCH, Circuit Judge. Ana Angelica Pedro Juan pleaded guilty to forced labor conspiracy. Her subsequently filed 28 U.S.C. § 2255 petition was denied. She appeals, first arguing that the district court erred in denying her equitable tolling claim. Second, she contends that the court impermissibly applied Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579 (1993), in rejecting as inadmissible the expert report submitted with her petition. Because the district court’s equitable tolling holding was not an abuse of discretion and constitutes an independent basis to deny Pedro Juan’s petition, we AFFIRM. I. BACKGROUND In 2016, Pedro Juan pleaded guilty to one count of forced labor conspiracy under 18 U.S.C. § 1594. At her sentencing hearing, Pedro Juan spoke on her own behalf through a Spanish- language interpreter. For the first time before the district court, Pedro Juan testified that when she initially arrived in the United States, she was held against her will and raped repeatedly. No. 21-3112, Pedro Juan v. United States The district court found that this testimony in support of mitigation lacked credibility and sentenced her to 120 months’ imprisonment. In February 2019, past the statute of limitations period, Pedro Juan filed a pro se federal habeas petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 bringing a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, and requesting appointment of counsel. The district court appointed counsel to represent Pedro Juan in the § 2255 proceedings. Pedro Juan subsequently filed an amended § 2255 petition arguing she was entitled to equitable tolling of the statute of limitations period and that she received ineffective assistance of counsel at sentencing. She argued entitlement to equitable tolling based on her lack of proficiency in English and Spanish and her mental health condition. She further claimed that her trial counsel was ineffective for failing to investigate and present at sentencing a mitigation narrative related to her mental health. Along with her amended petition, Pedro Juan attached an expert report prepared by Veronica Cruz, a licensed clinical social worker specializing in trauma, outlining her personal history and setting forth Cruz’s diagnosis that Pedro Juan suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Pedro Juan also attached an affidavit from her trial counsel stating that Pedro Juan had told him that she was sexually assaulted “following her immigration to the United States” and that he “did not hire an expert to evaluate [ ] Pedro Juan or take a detailed history of her experiences.” The Government opposed the petition. Over the Government’s opposition, the district court held an evidentiary hearing. Pedro Juan was the only witness called at the hearing …
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