Whether a Certificate of Appealability should have been granted

QUESTIONS PRESENTED 1. Whether a Certificate of Appealability should have been granted to review petitioner’s equitable tolling defense where a reasonable jurist could have rejected the District Court’s determination that (a) former counsel’s earlier correct advice negated his later incorrect advice identifying to petitioner the date on when the AEDPA limitation period started to run, (b) former counsel’s earlier correct advice that some calculation beyond simple addition was needed to determine when the AEDPA limitation period would expire negated his later advice that she had a full year from the date the state supreme court rejected her postconviction appeal to file her federal habeas petition, and (c) petitioner was not diligent in filing her habeas petition even though she filed it two months in advance of the one year deadline former counsel had advised existed. 2. Whether, where to economize the use of their own and the judiciary’s litigation resources the parties restrict their briefing to the threshold issue of whether equitable tolling is warranted, federal habeas courts should assume for Certificate of Appealability purposes that the petitioner has made a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right. i